


Oh, Cruel Fate

by altereliott



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Sexual Tension, enemies to lovers AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-01-15 21:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 41,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18507130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altereliott/pseuds/altereliott
Summary: The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic and I'm not a native english speaker so bear with me and enjoy!

 

**Wikipedia**

**Demaury-Lallemant feud**

_The Demaury-Lallemant feud started in 1900 in Paris and was one of the biggest family feuds of the 20 th century. Till this day, it is still unknown what the fight between the two families triggered and why there was this sudden rivalry. Sources say that the question of money or ground property was in the center of this fight. Since the Demaurys and Lallemants are still important and highly respected in the Parisian society, the feud is still present in these days, now already going into the third generation. _

**Feud**

**Media**

**Demaury genealogy**

**Lallemant genealogy**

**See also**

**References**

**Further reading**

**External links**

Lucas sighed deeply and leaned back against in the seat of the bus, shutting his phone down and putting it into his jacket. Some would say that it was a life goal to have a Wikipedia article about yourself and your family but for Lucas, it was only another reason why he would love to have another surname. But he was what he was: Lucas Lallemant – youngest son of Madeline and Jack Lallemant, heir to his name and the business of his family. Lucas mouth tucked into a smile. In his head, this sounded like some cringey romance history movie where he was the hero and would save the princess, the country and the world in general. But the reality was different. Very, very different.

The bus stopped and Lucas got out of it, standing in front of a big school which was guarded to the teeth. People were streaming in and out of his, greeting Lucas as if he were his best friend.

Fake. All of them. No one even knew his favorite color. They only knew that he was “fame” and had a lot of money – that was enough for most of the people in this time. There was never be a doubt that his parents would send Lucas to this school – the best and most elite school in whole Paris. Only the upper-class and the most respected families got a place on this school. This way, their son would get more education than the Demaurys could even effort. All of this, his whole life, was based on the fact to let the Demaurys suffer.

And if he wouldn’t have been raised to hate ever member of the Demaurys, he would hate them alone for that, for the control they had over his life.

It was the first day after the summer holidays and although Lucas had enough time to relax, he felt not relaxed at all. Maybe it was the fact that he was out drinking and dancing and hooking up with boys the whole summer, his friends always dragging him to the best and most illustrious parties.

The guard opened the door for him, greeting him with his name and even an indicated bow. As if Lucas was some kind of prince. He rolled his eyes lightly as he passed the guard and entered the courtyard.

It had never been a secret that a Lallemant visited this school. Lucas’ brothers were members of this school before and so it was no surprise that Lucas changed to this school two years ago.He has always been proud to be a member of this highly respected family. But in the last years, things went bad. Really bad. For his family and himself. Things happened which made him realize, that this feud between the Lallemants and Demaurys was justified. Things happened that Lucas could never forgive. And although the feud was never fought out in the inner circle of their families, the public knew not half of the things that happened. They would never knew what the Demaurys did to Lucas’ mum and that the Lallemant family slowly grew apart although they should stick together now more than ever and that Lucas often wished for a different life.  A life, where the Demaurys didn’t exist.

“Luuuuuuuucaaaaaaaaaaas!”

Lucas was distracted in his thoughts when a loud voice was calling his name over the courtyard. He looked up and a smile was forming on his lips as his best friends came over to him.

“Long time no seen”, said Yann and greeted his best friend with a handshake. Lucas laughed lightly and shook his head.

“Only like 25 hours, non?”

Yann was now beaming with a grin.

“Aww, honey, you count the hours were I’m not with you.” Lucas opened his mouth, ready to protest, as Yann bumped his elbow into Basile’s rips.

“He’s in love with me. He always has been”, Yann said to Basile and wiggled with his eyebrows. The protest died on Lucas’ lips because of a laugh fighting its way out of Lucas’ mouth. Lucas went over to Yann and threw his arms around his neck, looking into this longingly as if he was his lover.

“Oh, Yann. You’re so right. You’re the love of my life.”

All of them laughed and Arthur laid an arm around Lucas’ shoulder, pulling him from Yann away, as they went inside together. Lucas was into men as long as he could think – it was never a problem for anyone and those who had a problem with that were kicked out of Lucas’ life. Since he was someone who was always in the spotlight of the problems from his family, his social media accounts were overflowing with followers and messages. When he first started to go to this school, things went really badly and he got a lot of hate on social media and in real life regarding his sexuality and his family in general. Teenagers can be crueler than any adult because they feel stronger while putting down someone else, projecting their own problems on the life of a public figure. But all of this only made him stronger – he learned to ignore hate messages, he learned to be in line with his sexuality and the feelings towards men. And his friends supported him in every decision he made and got his back when someone crazy thought to put someone like Lucas Lallemant down.

“I don’t think you’re Lucas’ type, Yann. All the boys Lucas hooked up with were a lot taller and had messy hair. Not like you. I’m more of his type.”

Lucas rolled his eyes for the second time today and shrugged out of Arthurs’ grip.

“So, now we analyze the men I hook up with? Why don’t we analyze the girls you made out with, Arthur?”

Arthur lifted his eyebrows and a smugly smile appeared on Lucas’ lips.

“Oh, I forgot: You haven’t hooked up with anyone lately, right?”

“OOOOOHHHHH” Yann and Basile laughed and Arthur couldn’t stay serious for even one second, although he really tried.

“Sorry Arthur, but he gotcha.”

Lucas laughed and felt his mood lifting up immediately whenever he was with these dorks. Whenever he was with his _real_ friends. When you were a member of the Lallemants or Demaurys, you had a lot of people admiring you. Wanting to be your friends. Wanting to be part of the fame that goes alongside with the family name. Lucas stopped to read his DM’s on Instagram, most of the time it were people asking him to take them with him to that party or this event. To an event where Lucas himself would gladly stay at home with his friends, playing video games or getting drunk while eating some Pizza. But these nights were rare. Even rarer with Lucas getting older and more responsible for the name of his family.

Suddenly, the mood seemed to shift. Lucas could nearly feel as the air changed. His friends seemed to realize it too, their steps getting slower. He frowned and stopped, looking around.

People were whispering, their eyes bright with some new, exciting news. Lucas was used to people speaking behind his back, sharing gossip he couldn’t give less a fuck about. But today was different. There was not a giggle, no chuckle in these whispers. Only pure seriousness. Excitement. Confusion. And maybe even… Fear?

“What is happening here, putain?”

The usual loud hallway was quiet, people whispering, not allowing themselves to be louder as they spread some rumors. Rumors which affected Lucas because every gaze of every person was fixed on him, as he passed them.

“Let’s just go to class”, Lucas murmured and pulled the boys with him. He sat down in the back, next to Yann and chatted with him, trying to ignore all the stares which were even heavier than usual.

“Something is about to happen, Lulu”, Yann suddenly said and Lucas frowned.

“You watched too many Netflix shows, Yann. This is just the usual gossip. Maybe someone heard that I will leave my family and my name behind and become a monk in Germany. Or something like that. I actually don’t care at all.”

“But this is something different. As if we are all waiting for something to happen.”

“Yeah, I’m waiting for this day to be over so I can go back to my bed and get some sleep.”

“Dear Students.”

Lucas and Yann stopped their talk and turned around as the teacher came into class. And suddenly, Lucas was excited too. As if something was really about to happen. Yann and his stupid ideas – in the end it would only be an announcement for a new lunch menu.

“Welcome to the new school year. I hope you had some great holidays. We got a new student here today and I want to introduce him properly to you all.”

Lucas eyes narrowed and he suddenly got a bad feeling.

His eyes shifted to the door, as someone entered. He was tall, messy hair, bright eyes, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He was not smiling but Lucas could feel that his smile would light up the whole room. All in all, he was one of the most attractive man Lucas ever saw. He unconsciously leaned forward, a hand going through his own messy hair, a little smile forming on his lips. In the corner of his eyes, he found Yann watching him as if he knew how Lucas would react to that new boy. Suddenly, the eyes of the new boy were on him and his heart skipped a beat, catching Lucas off guard. His eyes held worlds in them.

“Would you like to introduce yourself?”, The Teacher asked with a sweet smile and the boy nodded shortly. He took one step forward, hands lazily in his pockets as if new days at elite schools were nothing new to him. The eyes of the boys found Lucas’ again and he could feel how the whole class seemed to hold their breaths.

“Hey. This is my first day at school after having a break for one year. I’m 22 years old and my name is Eliott Demaury.”

A gasp went through the class and he could feel how Yann went rigid next to Lucas. And Lucas could do nothing and watch as his world suddenly turned upside down within one tiny second, with the name of one man.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas had the feeling that breathing was impossible now. He wanted to destroy something, he felt pure hatred inside of him as he kept staring at this… man in front of him. At Eliott Demaury – the reason why his life was the way it was. Why everything went downhill with every passing minute. Eliott was not taking his eyes away from Lucas and Lucas knew that he knew. That he knew he was was in the same class as a Lallemant right now.

Lucas hadn’t realized that he was about to jump up. That he was about to go for his throat. But Yann pulled him down, laid a hand on his leg and pinned him to the chair with that.

“Not now”, Yann whispered urgently. “Everyone is already staring, don’t give them a reason for even more gossip.”

“I don’t give a fuck, Yann.”

Yann could be happy that Lucas didn’t start a war right fucking now.

Lucas was breathing heavily, his gaze still fixed on the Demaury in front of him. He was only seeing red now, he felt so much at once. He never expected the youngest son of the family to be… here. He never even expected to see a family member of the Demaury in real life – his parents had always kept him away from these people, their reputation and the things they did were enough, Lucas didn’t need a Demaury present in his life. And now… Now he had the possibility to blame this man for everything his family did to him and his mum and Lucas’ own family.

“Thank you, Monsieur Demaury. Have a seat.”

Eliott nodded and sat himself down in the front.

Lucas was shaking.

All things that were being said to Lucas about the Demaurys, everything they did, all of that was coming to the surface now and Lucas had the feeling to burst out of his skin. But he would take his time. He would confront Eliott, he would look into his damn pretty face and tell him that he was the reason why his mum didn’t want to get up in the morning and why Lucas felt this loneliness inside of him.

Yann was ready to jump up if Lucas would even think about moving into the direction of Eliott and Lucas tried to calm down while the class started, although he couldn’t listen to a word the teacher was saying. Not one student in this room was paying attention – this new kid would divide the school in two parts. The gazes from the others came always back to him, watching his reaction, waiting for something to happen, waiting for Lucas to lose control.

_Not now._

Time passed and Lucas did not take a single note, the sheet in front of him remained empty. When the bell finally ringed, he jumped up, took his backpack and stormed out of the room. He needed some air before the things which were about to happen now. Yann, Basile and Arthur were right behind him, taking up their position next to Lucas as if they could hold him back now. People were already gathering in the hallway, waiting for the event of the year.

Lucas couldn’t give less of a fuck that everyone was watching.

Basile said something.

Yann tried to pull him into a different direction.

Arthur looked around nervously.

But nothing could stop Lucas now.

And finally, finally Eliott Demaury came out of the room. His hair was messy as if he’d pulled the brownish strands too much. His brown jacket was a bit oversized, his backpack carelessly slung over one shoulder again. His eyes were on the ground as if he didn’t know what was going on here, what would await him now.

God, how much Lucas hated that arrogant boy with his pretty eyes and his tousled hair.

“Lucas…”

But Yann couldn’t stop him anymore.

Lucas dropped his backpack and literally jumped onto Eliott, pressing him against the wall next to the door of the classroom, his hands digging into Eliotts arms.

“What the actually _fuck_ are you doing here?”

Eliott said nothing and looked into Lucas’ eyes. Lucas never saw a gaze that intense before and it took him all of his will not to look away, to stand firm under this piercing stare.

“Answer me, Demaury. I know that you know who I am.”

“I couldn’t care less about who you are.”

Eliotts voice was quiet and calm as if they talked about the weather. A whisper went through the gathered crowd of people. No one ever dared to talk to Lucas like that – they had respect because of his name and Lucas made his place in this school and he fought hard for it. Lucas felt the urge to laugh out hysterically or to slap Eliott across the face.

“This is _my_ school. There is only place for one of us, do you understand me?”

“I can hear you very clearly, yes. But I don’t think your father has enough money to buy this school. Or anything else, in that case. So I wouldn’t say that his school is _your_ school, don’t you think so?”

A little smile appeared on Eliotts lips as the other boy realized how much the words shocked Lucas and it really took Lucas all of his will not to punch him right in the face.

“If you think that this will be an easy life for you then you’re mistaken. This will be a living hell for you, Eliott Demaury.”

“Well, then I have to say thank you, Lucas Lallemant, for this challenge. I accept it gladly.”

“So you know who I am.”

“I don’t know if you have heard of it but our family has been in a feud for over 100 years.”

Eliott acted as if he would think deeply about this.

“And… yeah, I think that I know your name because of this. And maybe my family sent me to this school to make your life a living hell too. And now, excuse me.”

Lucas was too shocked to hold onto Eliott as he slipped out of his grip, walking down the hallway as if nothing happened. As if he hadn’t just confronted his enemy.

Not only Lucas was in shock, the crowd which had gathered and Lucas’ friends looked equally shocked. Lucas was not sure what he just witnessed, he was not sure how his advantage of him being at this school for over two years faded away with some simple words from this… this young man.

Lucas turned around and if looks could kill, everyone within Lucas’ reach would drop dead to the floor now.

“What? What are you staring at? Don’t you have something else to do?” Lucas snarled at all of them and the crowd looked down, shuffling away with quiet voices.

Lucas gaze went into the direction where Eliott disappeared and he felt his breathing quicken again. He felt so much anger in him, so many emotions and he didn’t even know where all of that came from.

“Lulu, come on, let’s go.”

Yann wanted to grab him but Lucas pulled his arm away before he could even touch him. If someone would touch him now, he would break that person or scream or punch or do something else which he would regret in the exact moment while doing all of this.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” Lucas said slowly and Yann watched him with a new emotion in his eyes, something Lucas never saw before on him. Lucas took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Yann, Basile and Arthur didn’t deserve his anger, they didn’t deserve his mood.

“I will take the day off”, Lucas said now quietly, maybe even exhausted.

“I’m… I’ll message you.”

And with that, Lucas stormed off, out of the school and into the cold spring air. Away from Eliott Demaury and all the problems he brought with him.

As if Lucas hadn’t have enough problems without the youngest Demaury being on his school now.

.

**New Message from Dad:**

_Will not be home for the next days. Maman is doing okay today. Check on her. Food is in the fridge._

Lucas walked the whole way to his house instead of taking the bus. If he would be surrounded by other people now, he was not sure if he could react calm to any kind of attention towards him. His anger flared up again when he read the message from his Dad. But what did he expect? That his father would stay longer at home than a few days? That his family would find their way back together again?

Lucas pulled up his collar, pressing his scarf tighter to his neck.

He couldn’t get the image of Eliotts piercing stare out of his mind. He had the feeling that it was now tattooed at the back of his eyes, never fading away. He often sat on his laptop at night, fingers hovering over the keyboard, ready to type in the name _Demaury_ only to see what the youngest son in his age looked like.

How his personal opponent looked like.

It always ended with Lucas closing the laptop, thinking that it would be better for him not to know the face of his enemy.

Lucas pulled out his keys, opening the door of their big house in the noble neighborhood of Paris. Some houses away, the Demaurys lived and the whole neighborhood was divided into two camps: One half stood in for his family and one half supported the Demaurys. It was like a cold war and Lucas hated all of this.

Dropping his backpack in the hallway, he made his way over to the kitchen to take a long sip out of the whiskey bottle. His father was not here, so why not drinking away all his alcohol. He was old enough and his parents didn’t even care at this point anymore. He let himself fall on the couch, staring at the ceiling, taking some deep breaths. All of this was not what he planed for his final year at school.

Lucas pulled out his phone, checking the messages from his friends, asking if he was okay. The ghost of a smile flashed across his face as he realized that they really worried about him. They knew of the situation at home, they knew more of what the media would ever know. With these information, they would get a lot of money from any newspaper or news channel. Lucas often thought about that but now it was too late and he could only hope that they would stay loyal.

Lucas closed the messenger, wanting to answer them later and instead opened Instagram.1543 new followers in the time of four hours, 340 new DM’s. He ignored all of this and went to the search page.

_Know your friends, but know your enemies better._

**eliottdemaury**

Nothing.

**Eliott Demaury**

Nothing again.

Lucas frowned and sat himself up a bit, trying it once again.

**eliottdy**

And finally he found it. He clicked on the profile, his username was @srodulv and Lucas asked what kind of person would have a username like this. But he knew that it was him – his name was written at the top of the page in fat letters. He scrolled down and started to look through his Instagram posts. There weren’t a lot pictures from him – rather, there were drawings, quotes, photography. And in between there were pictures from him with his friends or from him and his family on some stupid event. He opened a picture where Eliott was wearing suit and tie, looking straight into the camera with this piercing gaze and Lucas felt how he started to shiver involuntarily.

He could understand why most of the people where on the side of the Demaurys if they looked like _that._ If Eliott would have a different surname, if he would be a different person, Lucas would do anything to get that boy into his arms and his bed. But given these circumstances, it made Lucas even more angrier to know that the boy he was supposed to hate was exactly his type of man.

Lucas scrolled up again past all the aesthetically pleasing posts and clicked on _Message._

_So, Eliott. You want a battle? I’ll give you war._

**lucallemant:** don’t think your little performance scared me.

Lucas looked at the message he just sent and asked himself if this was the most stupid thing he could have done. Why didn’t he just leave it like that? Why did he had the urge to… hurt this boy who actually hadn’t done anything. His gaze went around and landed on a picture from his mum and himself, smiling brightly into the camera.

The anger came back.

_This boy and his family had actually done a lot._

His eyes were back on the screen and he nearly jumped when he saw that the sent message was marked as _read._

He was typing.

Lucas could feel his heart racing, his eyes already starting to hurt from the intense light of his smartphone.

 **srodulv:** you stalked me.

 **lucallemant:** you wished.

 **srodulv:** you just came home, I know how long it takes to get to our street. And the first thing you do is searching me on Instagram. Congratulations, you’re really creepy.

Lucas stared at the screen and couldn’t believe how _fucking annoying_ this man was. Who do he thought he was? The pope?

 **lucallemant:** you’re not that interesting for me. you came to my school only to make my life a “living hell” AND you know that I left the school although classes are still taking place – who is the creepy one from us now, huh?

Lucas had a satisfying smile on his face, as he sent the message and leaned back, an arm under his head.

The notification for the next message came shortly after and he opened the app in a record time.

 **srodulv:** that’s so cute, you think you’re scary, right? 

Lucas wanted to throw his phone against the wall.

 **lucallemant:** fuck off.

 **srodulv:** you stalked me and messaged me. I’m not the one who started this conversation with useless threats.

Lucas hated to admit it but he had a point. He didn’t even know why he wrote to him. Maybe to prove that he was stronger than this boy? Better than him? To tell him not to underestimate him? Lucas was shaking because of all the emotions bottled up inside him and forgot to answer through all of this. Suddenly, his phone ringed with a new message.

 **srodulv:** on a scale from one to ten, how bad do you want to kill me right now? ;)

 **lucallemant:** I’m hovering somewhere in the high thirties.

 **srodulv:** in this case, I should probably bring my gun tomorrow

 **lucallemant:** I’ll be ready.

Lucas threw his phone across the couch and leaned back. For some moments, everything was silent and Lucas stared at the ceiling again. He had to admit something again: This boy was quick-witted. And in a life, where everything Lucas said was answered with _Yes and Amen_ , it was nearly a welcome change that someone contradicted him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mention of suicidal thoughts (no explicit talk about it tho!)

Lucas leaned against one of the lockers, waiting for Yann to walk out of class. He owned him an apology. Lucas is a very impulsive person, now more than ever with Eliott Demaury on his school but Yann and his other squad members don’t deserve such a treatment – they were always there for him, always got his back. They couldn’t do something against the fact that Lucas had to study beside his personal enemy now.

The bell rang and Lucas straightened, putting his phone inside his pocket and turning towards the stream of students walking out of the classroom.

“Yann.”

Yann nearly passed him without realizing that Lucas waited for him and he stopped in his tracks when he heard his voice, turning around to Lucas.

“Hey.” Yann smiled slightly and Lucas took a step forward, looking at his boots and suddenly feeling very shy.

“Listen, I’m sorry for yesterday. It was… It just happened so much and you know, my family and –”

“It’s okay, Lulu.”

“What?”

Lucas lifted his head and looked at Yann who still smiled at him.

“It’s okay. I don’t think that Arthur, Basile or even me would have reacted differently in that situation. I know that you’re under a lot of pressure and I really appreciate it that you still think about us and me and came to apologize.”

In this moment, Lucas realized again how grateful he could be to have friends as Yann in his life. His chosen family where his real family failed.

“Come here, little one.”

“No, Yann. Absolutely no.”

“Oh yes, that’s the price you have to pay now.”

“No, no, please!”

Yann came closer, a grin on his face, arms outstretched.

Lucas could see how Arthur and Basile came from behind Yann and suddenly, Basile’s eyes lit up, he turned to Arthur with the biggest smile on his face and screamed one word:

“GROUPHUG!”

And suddenly, they stormed onto Lucas and before he could raise his voice against this cuddle session, he was in the middle of their group hug, the arms from the other three boys around him, holding the smaller boy in the middle of them. And Lucas couldn’t help but smile.

“I hate you all for doing this.”

“We love you, too, Lucas”, Arthur answered with a big grin on his face.

* * *

Lucas didn’t see much of Eliott in the next few days and he was glad about it. When he saw him from afar, he changed his direction and took a longer way to his destination, desperate not to walk into the other boy. Maybe he really brought a gun and only waited for a moment where he could catch Lucas alone, silently killing him in a dark alley. Or something like that.

He really saw too many crime series.

A week after their first confrontation, his phone suddenly vibrated while he was in class. He usually ignored calls, especially in class, but when he saw the name on the display, he jumped up and ran out of the classroom, eyes following him on every step.

“Hello?”

“Lucas Lallemant?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s me. Something’s wrong?”

“Your mum asked for you. The whole morning. She said, that she needs to see you. She doesn’t want to take her pills unless she talked with you. I’m sorry for calling you, I know that you’re probably in school now, but…”

“No. No, it’s fine. I’m on my way. Tell her, that I’ll be there in some minutes.”

And with that, he ended the call and turned around, ready to run the whole way to the hospital.

But he stopped immediately when he saw who listened to his talk with the nurse.

And he only saw red again.

“You”, he snarled and killed Eliott Demaury with the look in his eyes.

_I don’t need a gun, you loser._

“Have you decided to stalk me personally?”

“I just went by, no need to threaten me again.”

“I. Do. Not. Threaten. You.”

Eliott lifted his eyebrows and Lucas wanted to throw his hands in the air because of how damn good this boy looked.

“Get out of my way”, Lucas said and wanted to storm past Eliott. Storming somewhere became his new favorite thing to do, he realized. But suddenly, he felt a hand on his arm and Eliott held him in place next to him. Lucas could feel his pulse quicken, he could feel the heat rising inside him and how everything would break lose when Eliott would hold him for one second more.

_His fault, his fault, his fault, his fault._

“I heard about your mum”, Eliott began. “I’m really sorry.”

And that was the moment Lucas lost it.

“You’re WHAT? You’re sorry? Oh, please, shut the fuck up, putain.”

Lucas laughed and he raised his voice, not knowing where to go with all his emotions.

“Your family is the reason why my life sucks. Your family is the reason why my mum went totally fucking _crazy._ You are the reason why my dad decided to flee instead to help. You are the reason my life is fucked up. And you dare to say that you’re _sorry_?”

Lucas couldn’t stop himself. He was so angry. So angry about the Demaurys, about his life and about this boy who just destroyed Lucas’ picture of a cruel and heartless man with his little ‘Sorry’.

“Lucas, I didn’t know, I’m—”

“Don’t _ever_ say my name again.” Lucas slowly walked backwards, his hands held high, slightly shaking, as if he had to stop Eliott from coming nearer to him although the other boy hasn’t moved an inch.

“You don’t have the right to say my name. Nor to say the name of my family. If your disgusting clan had stayed away from my mum, she would’ve never fallen for Laurent. She would’ve never met him, she would’ve never fallen in love with a Demaury, she hated all of you, exactly like I did. And now she sometimes doesn’t even want to fucking live anymore. And that is ALL YOUR FAULT!”

Lucas was breathing heavily and suddenly felt something wet on his cheeks. He touched his face and realized, in shock, that he was crying. And he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t hold the tears back. How many nights did he spent laying awake, thinking what he would say to a Demaury when he met one of them personal. And now he finally could get everything out, finally he had someone to blame for this whole situation. For the fact that his dad nearly punched his mum unconsciousness, when he found out about the affair with Laurent Demaury. For the fact that his mum broke because of that and because of not being able to meet Laurent anymore. For the fact that his mum now was in the hospital, slowly dying more and more every day. For the fact that Lucas lost his family.

“Stop talking to me. Stop coming back. Just stop. Leave me alone or I’ll fuck you up.”

Lucas was taking deep breaths now, his voice breaking. Eliott just stood there and watched him trying to breath slowly again. He said nothing, only held his ground, not backing away. Finally, he sighed deeply and ran a hand through his tousled hair.

“I’m so tired of this feud, of this fight that doesn’t even affect us anymore.”

“As you see, it does. More than ever.”

Eliott looked into Lucas eyes kept staring back into these two deep pools of emotions. Lucas had always been good in reading other people and although Eliott didn’t show any strong emotion on the outside, he could see how much was going on in his inside.

“It makes no sense to talk with you about it. Not now.” Eliott shouldered his backpack and took one step towards Lucas. Lucas took one back instantly. And he suddenly saw the hurt on Eliotts face while doing so.

“I’m sorry. Although you don’t want to hear this and keep up the imagine of me as the villain of your life.”

Lucas clenched his fists, ready to retort something, but he kept his mouth shut. He was tired. Instead, Eliott just walked past him and stopped slowly behind him, looking over his shoulder back to Lucas who was staring down the hallway, not sparing one glance at Eliott.

“I won’t tell anyone about this, don’t worry.”

And suddenly, Eliott was gone. Lucas took a deep, shaky breath and had to lean against the wall for comfort. He slid it down and sat on the floor, knees drawn up, the adrenaline still alive in his blood, his hand shaking slightly. His fingernails left marks on the palm of his hands while he clenched his fists. Little, bloody, half moons were on his hands now and Lucas stroked over them carefully, wincing slightly. At least, he still felt pain. At least, he still was alive, not going numb just yet.

And unfortunately, Eliott was right again. Lucas wants to keep up the imagine of the cruel, heartless Demaury. He wants to see him as ice cold. And him apologizing for Lucas’ mum, not telling anyone about this argument, made him seem like he had a heart after all. Like he was… different from the other Demaurys. And that was something Lucas didn’t want to admit.

He looked at the spot where Eliott disappeared and a single tear was rolling down his cheek.

_I won’t tell anyone about this._

And Lucas was grateful that Eliott gave him something very important: one less thing to worry About.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay time to say thank you!
> 
> I'm so happy that you people seem to like my fic since it's my very first attempt so thank you for all the love, the comments and kudos
> 
> you guys ROCK!!!!11!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas entered the hospital and wanted to leave immediately. He hated the smell, all the clean and white surfaces. He always connected all of this to his mum, the memories from better years slowly fading away, only the smell of disinfection spray lasting in their places.

He pulled his backpack tighter, trying to calm his racing heart while he walked down the known hallway, the doctors and nurses greeting him, already knowing his face.

He tried really hard not to think about the confrontation with Eliott Demaury. And he failed hard. Really hard. He always recalled his face, how he didn’t even react when Lucas threw all these things and words at his head.

_He was sorry. You could have just let it slide, Lucas._

But he didn’t want to. He and his family were the reason why he had to be in this hospital now.

“Monsieur Lallemant?”

A nurse was coming towards him, a young woman which Lucas didn’t recognize – maybe she was new, maybe he didn’t pay enough attention last time.

“Yeah, that’s me. Can I see my mum?”

“Yes, of course. She is already waiting for you.”

Lucas followed the nurse as if he wouldn’t know the way to the room of his mum by heart. He tried to ignore the whispers from the other visitors, tried to ignore the thousand eyes on him. He didn’t want any more gossip about him and his family and the last thing he wanted was that the media found out about his mum being here.

The nurse opened the door for him and Lucas slipped in, immediately closing the door behind him.

“Mum.”

He stood a few meter away from the bed, staring at his mum. She was pale. Her eye bags were dark purple. She looked like she hadn’t slept in years and it hurt Lucas so much to see her like that. He took a deep breath as his mum turned her face towards him, her dull eyes lighting up a bit when she saw him.

The depression started, when Lucas’ dad Jack forbid her every contact with the Demaurys, when he started to forbid her to go out alone, when he started to spy on her, to read her letters, to check her phone. His mum slowly but surely withdraw. She withdraw from her work, from her son, from her life. It was getting worse and worse with every passing day. And now they were here. At the end of the line.

“Lucas. My dear. Come here.”

Lucas obeyed and walked to his mum, sitting on the edge of her bed. He took her hand in his and Lucas asked himself if she has always been this skinny. Or if the illness was also the reason for this.

“Mum, the doctors told me, that you don’t want to take your pills. Why is that?”

“The pills make me forget. They make me forget the pain, yes. But they also make me forget what is real and what is not real. And before taking my pills, I wanted to see you. Ask you, how you are doing. I’m sure that I can leave very soon. We could drive to the sea again, you, dad and I, together, as a family.”

“Mum.”

“I could cook for all of us. Do you remember the little house on the coast? Where we used to go every summer? Do you think it’s still available this year?”

“Mum. Please.”

“Lucas, love, why are you crying?”

He didn’t even realized that he had started to cry. For the second time today. Lucas was usually strong but there were days where even he couldn’t handle all of this anymore.

“I am crying, because these are illusions, mum.”

His mum looked at him with wide eyes.

“The things you’re talking about, about us going on vacation together. This will never happen again. Never. We are not a family anymore. We are a bunch of people, pretending to be there for each other when in reality, my so called dad hurt you, my mum, and another family determines the course of our life.”

“Honey, you don’t know, what you’re talking about. Dad only wanted –”

“Dad nearly punched you _unconsciousness_. If I hadn’t been there to stop him, I don’t know how far he would have gone. And all of that because of that stupid Demaury.”

“It was my decision, not his. It’s not his fault. This feud started one hundred years ago, you cannot blame Laurent for anything, you cannot blame me for falling in love.”

“WAKE UP, MUM!”

Lucas couldn’t stop himself. He rarely screamed at his mum. He loved her with all his heart and although things were really difficult, he cared deeply for her and would do anything to see her smile. But too much happened in the past days, weeks, years. Lucas felt like he was being ripped apart by life and he just wanted to be… okay again. Only for one day. For one hour. For one minute.

His mum flinched, slowly pulling her hand away from Lucas. He stood up, pacing through the room, his hands clenched into fists again.

“All of this wouldn’t have happened if the Demaurys would not exist. You would’ve never met Laurent, you would’ve never developed feelings, Dad would still be with us, with you and everything would be fine. And now this… this stupid boy Eliott is ruining my school life, too.”

“What?”

Lucas halted and stared at the wall in front of him. He originally didn’t want to talk about Eliott to his mum, she already had enough to think about.

“The youngest Demaury is in your school? How so? Since when?”

His mum was slowly sitting up, looking at him with big eyes.

“Forget it, Mum. Just… forget it.”

“Lucas, you are the only hope that this feud is going to end. You and Eliott. The boy is at your school now? You can finally make an end to all of this. Start a friendship with him, try to talk. Everything will be okay in the end.”

“But I don’t want it to end”, Lucas said through gritted teeth, tears leaving wet traces on his cheeks. “They deserve everything. They deserve the pain because they gave us enough pain for a whole fucking life time.”

“Lucas… You cannot think like that.”

His mum sounded shocked and Lucas turned around to her, looking at her wide eyes. A part of Lucas didn’t think like that at all. But the impulsive Lucas, the Lucas who missed his family and his former life before everything went downhill, this Lucas thought exactly like that.

“You have to stop dreaming, Mum. I cannot end this feud, not like this. Not with so many things between us and this family.”

“But –”

“NO! Don’t you understand this, Mum? Because of them, you are here.”

Lucas took a deep breath and looked straight at his mum from the other end of the room.

“Do you really think that you can leave soon, Mum?”

“Yes, of course. I—”

“You will _not_ leave soon”, Lucas said, raising his voice even more.

“Today is one of your good days. Maybe tomorrow you won’t even recognize me anymore.”

Tears were rolling down his cheeks, uncontrollably. His mum was crying now, too.

“Lucas, I’m—” His mum started to shake, her breathing quickened. Lucas didn’t realize all of this.

“I’m sorry Mum, but I’m not your little boy anymore. And I won’t forgive this family for what they have done to me. To you. To us.”

And suddenly, the machines, which his mum was hooked up to, started to beep loudly and in a high tone. Lucas’ eyes widened and he was by his mum in two strides, the feud and everything forgotten within seconds.

“Mum?”

Lucas was shaking, staring at his mum.

_What have I done?_

The doctors told him often enough not to upset her, not to argue with her. He was supposed to be there for her today, she wanted to see him and talk to him about his day, about his life. Like a good mum was supposed to do. And he came in and produced his anger against the whole world on his mum, who couldn’t do anything for it.

His mum’s whole body was shaking now and Lucas panicked. His mind was spinning and the adrenaline kicked in, paralyzing his thinking.

“I’m… I’m going to get help. Everything will be fine, Mum.”

Lucas ran on the hallway, nearly tripping over his own feet in his hurry and screamed his lungs out, calling for help while crying silently the whole time.

Nurses and doctors stormed into the room and Lucas turned around again, standing in the doorway, watching his mum in panic. Lucas repressed a sob. A doctor was suddenly standing before him, talking to him. He didn’t saw him coming, he looked through him straight to his mum who was being held on the bed by three nurses.

_What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?_

_My fault, my fault, my fault._

“Monsieur Lallemant, you have to leave. Now.”

“No, I want to stay. I want to stay with my mum. Please, let me –”

“You really need to leave now. Please, Monsieur. Mademoiselle Duchamp?”

A came towards him, shoving him out of the room and before he could protest even more, the door was slammed into his face and he was on the busy hallway full of people passing by, watching him and chatting and talking.

And he never felt so alone in his life before.

* * *

“How is she? Is she getting better soon?”

As the doctor left his mum’s room, he was by his side immediately, his voice broken from all the crying he secretly did on the restroom.

“She will be okay. It’s better for her, if you would leave for today and let her rest. It was a lot for her today”, said the doctor with a slight smile and walked past Lucas. Lucas stood in the hallway, alone again. And he knew that the doctor was right. That she needed rest now. And if Lucas was honest with himself, he was glad not having to face her today after what he did to her.

It seems like the only way his life will be from now on is based on self-destruction, destroying everything he held dear once.

The next days were a blur for Lucas. He went to school, talked with his friends, sat in the class room, took notes. Whenever he passed a mirror, he nearly jumped at what he saw inside. He looked absolutely terrible – pale, deep eyebags from not having enough sleep, spending his nights drinking all the alcohol and even more. Yann asks him more than once a day, if he wants to talk. If something happened, if he needs someone or if they should just hang out for an afternoon, playing video games. But Lucas didn’t want to drag in his best friend in his misery even more. So he withdrew himself from his friends and his social life, ignoring their messages, ignoring their calls.

And most of all, he ignored Eliott.

At least in school.

At night, when he was alone and all the thoughts wouldn’t let him get any rest, he took out his laptop and instead of stopping before typing his name in the search bar, like he did all those months, he spent hours and hours researching, wanting to know everything about this feud and Eliott in general. He owned Eliott an apology. He really did. But every time this thought came to the surface, he pushed it away by drinking more alcohol, forgetting everything for at least some hours.

This night, he really exaggerated his alcohol consume. He already felt dizzy two hours ago but that didn’t stop him from drinking more. His dad had a great collection of wine and vodka and Lucas knew exactly where all of this was stored. So he took out another bottle. And another. And another.

Lucas was browsing through the internet, looking through photos from Eliott and his family. His nightly research started with looking for the trigger regarding this whole fucking feud but, surprise, he didn’t find anything at all.

“Stupid internet”, he mumbled to himself and took another sip from the vodka bottle, some of the spirit spilling on his blue shirt.

He ended up on Eliotts Instagram, not being aware of the fact that he stalked him. Again. Suddenly, he found a video with an interest thumbnail. He opened it and turned up the volume, waiting for something to happen.

Lucas’ lips curled into a smile.

Eliott was out with his friends in this video, spending the night in a karaoke bar, holding a microphone in his hand. He waited for the song to start with a big smile on his face. He never saw the other boy smiling before and it did something to Lucas, it was nearly contagious. It seemed to light up the whole room and Lucas couldn’t help but smile too, the laptop screen slightly blurring in front of him.

And when Eliott started to sing, Lucas jaw literally dropped.

Eliott Demaury had a beautiful voice. He had heard that the Demaurys were talented when it came to art, he saw the drawings on Eliotts Instagram. But he never thought about music. He never thought that Eliott could sing like a fucking angel.

_God, I hate this perfect man._

He watched the video once. Twice. He lost count eventually. Eliott seemed to be so free in this video, he seemed so free while singing and while being around his friends, his smile growing even brighter when the crowd applauded and cheered.

There were times, where Lucas smiled like that, too.

At this point, he was too drunk to control his own actions. His fingers nearly worked on their own account, switching to the chat between Lucas and Eliott, writing something and sending the message.

 **lucallemant:** you can sing

 **lucallemant:** pretty, talented boy

Lucas stared at the message and one part of his brain screamed in warning that he should delete the message immediately. But the other part, the part which was drunk as fuck, won.

And it was too late nevertheless because Eliott already saw the message.

 **srodulv:** is this a question or a statement?

 **srodulv:** you’ve been stalking me again

 **lucallemant:** liar

 **srodulv:** it’s in the middle of the night, don’t you have something better to do than stalking my account?

 **lucallemant:** I need to know my enehmeis

 **srodulv:** your what?

Lucas chuckled like a little kid as he saw that he could not even write properly anymore.

 **lucallemant:** my e.n.e.m.i.e.s.

 **srodulv:** you are drunk

 **lucallemant:** is this a question or a statement??????????????????????????

 **srodulv:** definitely a statement

It bothered Lucas that Eliott seemed to know what was going on with him. He should have never written to him in the first place. He already started to type an answer, ready to end this conversation now, when he a got a message from Yann.

 **y4z4s:** Lulu, you up for partying?

Lucas looked at the message and thought about Yanns message for a moment. He actually wanted to stay in bed all night long, re-watching the karaoke video from Eliott for the thousandth time. But he was drunk. And hell yes, he kind of was up for partying and for getting even more drunk.

 **lucallemant:** where?

 **y4z4s:** At Emma’s, we’re already here and maybe it’s good for you to come out of your house. At least for tonight

 **lucallemant:** I’ll be there in 10 minjgf

He didn’t care about correcting his words and stood up, feeling very dizzy. He searched for his stupid jacket which he saw only minutes ago.

“Helloooooo? Jacket? Where are you?”

He chuckled at his own dumbness, starting to speak to himself and calling clothes as if they would come around the corner magically, but he couldn’t stop himself. At least he didn’t had to think about his mum or his dad in this moment.

But all the alcohol didn’t stop his brain from thinking about Eliott and his voice and his pretty face and his bright smile and -

His phone ringed with a new message just as he found his jacket and he was glad that he didn’t forget the PIN to unlock his phone.

 **srodulv:** hello?

Lucas frowned as he saw the message.

 **lucallemant:** what

 **srodulv:** what are you doing rn?

 **lucallemant:** if you want to know if I’m naked in bed, then the answer is no. you are not my type btw. well, tbh, you are. But your name is a big big no-no. your face is very pretty tho.

Lucas would definitely regret all of that in some hours.

 **srodulv:** I hope you won’t go out like this.

 **lucallemant:** as if you would care

 **srodulv:** no one as drunk as you should be out at this time in the middle of the night

 **lucallemant:** you are not my dad, so shut up

Who do he thought he was? Lucas was not a little child anymore and he didn’t need to justify himself, especially not to Eliott.

 **lucallemant:** if you really care so much, I’m going to the party at Emma’s now. And you are not invited.

And with that, Lucas muted his phone, grabbed his keys and stumbled out of his house, a bottle of wine in his hand, ready to waste himself even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert VODKAAAAAAAAAA gif here*


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else

Eliott stared at his phone, rereading the messages between Lucas and him over and over. He drove a hand through his messy hair, biting his lip slowly while his eyes scanned the messages, burning from the brightness of the screen.

_He really hates me._

But that didn’t stop Eliott from worrying. He knew that Lucas didn’t feel very well in the last days, he looked tired and done with life in general. And every time, Lucas spotted Eliott in the hallway, he took a turn and walked into the other direction, desperate to get out of his way, as if Eliott would bring back memories which Lucas wanted to repress so badly.

Eliott didn’t even know why he cared at all.

Lucas Lallemant was his enemy. He was the boy his parents warned him about his whole childhood. But Eliott was always a very curious boy. The more his parents talked about this Lucas Lallemant, the more research Eliott did on the other boy, slowly getting more and more interested in Lucas as a person, not as his personal enemy.

As his parents told him that he would change schools and be in the same classes as Lucas Lallemant, Eliott didn’t even know what to say. His parents wanted him to investigate about his current life situation, about the Lallemants in general through this and Eliott was too tired to argue about all of this again and again and again. He would lose that fight nevertheless.

But when Lucas told him about his mum, Eliott was shocked. This was new to him, something he didn’t know before, something not even the media knew. And although he promised his parents to act as their spy, to tell them about everything he found out, he wouldn’t tell them a word about this.  He was done with this stupid feud and this bullshit.

And he promised Lucas not to tell anyone about their… conversation.

Well, you couldn’t call it a conversation when one was silent and the other one was screaming at you. Like all of their real life conversations went till yet. But Lucas was sad and desperate, his life was falling apart. And Eliott couldn’t blame him for talking to him like that, his family being the reason for all of this.

Eliott grabbed his caramel bomber jacket, walking out of his room and straight to the main door of his house.

He made his decision.

“Eliott? Where are you going?”

“I’m joining my friends on a party.”

He stopped in the doorway, looking over his shoulder to see his mum watching him from the sofa in the living room. She looked at him, knowing that he usually didn’t went out in the middle of a school week.

Knowing that something was off.

“I’m going to be back soon. I just… have to meet someone.”

His mum slowly nodded and turned around, facing the TV again. Eliott was glad that his parents trusted him and he pulled out his phone again, opening Instagram, as he went off into the dark of the night.

Lucas was drunk as hell and no one at the party would be sober enough to tell Lucas to go the fuck home.

_Why the fuck am I doing this. You are so dumb, Eliott._

Yeah, he really was dumb. He couldn’t explain to himself why he wanted Lucas to be safe. Why he had a really bad feeling about this night. Maybe he felt responsible for the boy, after what his family did to him. Maybe he developed some kind of protective sense over Lucas, wanting to keep him safe from the cruelty of life because he already had too much weight to carry on his tiny, little shoulders. Maybe he wished that someone would do the same for him someday. Maybe he was just stupid.

_You are supposed to hate him._

Yes, he was supposed to hate him.

But that ship had already sailed.

* * *

Lucas danced as if this would be the last night of his life. If he would die tonight, he wouldn’t care at all. His senses were blurred, the music and the bass were vibrating in his bones and he screamed the lyrics together with Yann, Arthur and Basile. The other boys were already too drunk to realize that Lucas had had enough. Clearly enough. Instead, they passed around the bottle and the joint, Lucas taking a deep drag, letting the smoke fill his mouth, his lungs and his mind.

“Lucas, someone is watching you”, slurred Yann and pointed with his head behind Lucas. Lucas stumbled as he tried to throw a gaze over his shoulder. A young man in his age was watching him, a knowing smile on his face. And Lucas smiled back, maybe a bit dumb, but he did it nevertheless.

“I’m on a mission, mes amis. Don’t follow me, the master is doing his work now.”

The others laughed as Lucas made his way to the other boy, not asking too many questions before dancing with him, his arms thrown around the other boys neck. He didn’t even know his name, but his eyes and his messy hair reminded him of someone.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere more private”, Lucas slurred and pulled the other boy with him, winking at his friends as he passed them. He needed love, affection, something to hold onto. This boy was there in the right place to the right time.

Everything in this apartment was too loud, too hot, too much. And Lucas enjoyed this feeling of not being himself, of losing slowly but surely control, forgetting every thought which roomed through his mind for at least a moment. He pulled the other boy into the corridor, pushing him against the wall before their lips locked together.

They were having an intense make-out session, the boy slowly sliding his hand into Lucas’ pants, as Lucas suddenly felt strange.

“Wait…”

Lucas pulled away, the other boy looking confused.

“What’s wrong? Are you—”

The stranger couldn’t finish his thoughts because Lucas, shuddered, buckled over and threw up onto the shoes of the other boy.

_Oh, shit._

Lucas felt absolutely terrible, a big headache forming at the back of his head. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, looking up to the other boy who had gone rigid.

Lucas was sorry, he really was. The alcohol in his blood was way too much, he was high and his head felt numb and dizzy.

And despite all of that, he started to laugh.

_Shut up, you stupid prick._

But he couldn’t. The other one looked at him and his face grew angrier with every passing second. And with every passing second, Lucas had to laugh more.

This was possible the low of his life.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” The stranger screamed at him, coming closer, ready to fight this off right here, as Lucas felt a hand on his arm, pulling him out of the other ones reach.

“I think it’s better for you to go now.”

Lucas heard a familiar voice near his ear but he couldn’t put a finger on who it was just now.

“No, let me go. I’m having a lot of fun here!”

“You can have fun another time.”

He tried to twist out of this grasp, but the hand only grabbed him tighter, pulling him away from this whole scene. The boy he just made out with stormed off to his other friends, probably spreading rumors by this second. Lucas would regret a lot of decision tonight, the newspapers and social media accounts reminding him of the embarrassing night with a lot of reports and photos from random people.

“What the fuck do you—”

Lucas turned around and froze as he looked into the eyes of his opponent.

“Eliott.”

He just said his name, dumbly as fuck, slurring the syllables of his name together.

“Didn’t I told you that you are not invited?”

Eliott was raising his eyebrows, looking down at Lucas, who was much smaller than him. Eliott looked like he ran all the way to this party, his cheeks slightly tinted pink and his breath a bit faster than it was usual.

“Do you think I care?” Eliott said while hiding his real emotions. Maybe he wasn’t hiding his emotions at all and Lucas was just too drunk to read him and his facial expressions. His face seemed slightly blurred to Lucas.

“Well, you do seem to care about me. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. But if you just came  to bring me home, then you are a fool. A foooooooool.”

He poked Eliott into his chest, stumbling while doing so and nearly finding himself in Eliotts arms.

“But let me tell you some news, I can walk home. Alone. All by myself.”

Lucas was grinning and came close to Eliotts face, looking him into the eyes.

“Without the help from you, you pretty, stupid boy.”

Amusement flickered over Eliotts face and Lucas took some steps backwards, steading himself on the wall with one hand.

“And I think I’m gonna do just that. Going home. Without you.”

Lucas would never admit that Eliott was right with his assumption so he pretended that going home was his own decision and his own idea only. He didn’t want to puke on any other boys shoes, to be honest, so it maybe was really time to stop the night right here. His brain couldn’t find an explanation why Eliott was here, though. He couldn’t be here only because he realized from the chats between them that Lucas was drunk and needed someone to bring him home.

And Lucas was a grown-up man. He didn’t need anyone.

“So, good night. It was not nice to see you.”

“Lucas?”

Lucas nearly was out of the door, pushing past other people. He turned around as he heard his name, aware of the fact that Eliott was still watching him.

“Huh?”

“Your shoes.”

A ghost of a smile was now on Eliotts face and Lucas looked down at himself.

“Oh.”

He wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“This was intentionally. Totally intentionally.”

Lucas looked around, starting to rummage through the pile of shoes at the entrance door.

“I’m sure that I saw them somewhe – ah, here they are.”

He pulled them out from the stack. It took him way longer than expected to put on his shoes and to tie the laces. Only at the third attempt, he finally managed a proper ribbon.

All this time, Eliott was watching him, leaning against a wall.

“Don’t you have something else to do?” Lucas slurred at him and looked up, sitting on the floor like a little boy, legs stretched out in front of him.

“Oh, I think this is the perfect entertainment”, Eliott responded while not being able to hold back his grin anymore.

“Well, your entertainment is leaving now. Goodnight.”

Lucas got up slowly, his vision sliding in and out while his head was spinning. He couldn’t even walk straight anymore and he was sure that he was never that drunk before in his life.

“Goodnight.”

Lucas looked around one last time at Eliott who still stood at the wall, the colorful light of the party illuminating his face, making his beautiful eyes stand out even more.

“Putain”, Lucas whispered. _Stop being so pretty, for god’s sake._

He turned around and left, trying not to fall down the stairs while making his way out. The cold night air hit him like a hammer and as he looked around, he realized that he had no fucking clue where he came from nor where he had to go to.

“Luckily, Paris isn’t dangerous at night”, he chuckled to himself and took off into some random direction.

In a sober state, Lucas would know that in some places, Paris was very dangerous at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and welcome to another epsiode of "disaster gay lucas jumps out even more when the hedgehog is drunk"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild violence

Lucas was lost.

He walked down the streets, not knowing where he was or where he had to go. Damn it, he should have taken a taxi or something like that. He glanced around, trying to recognize anything, but every thought was fleeting, the alcohol in his veins still fresh.

The more he walked, the more he realized that he fucked up.

That he exaggerated it.

That he should had gone with Eliott who didn’t seem drunk at all.

_Why was he even there?_

Lucas pulled out his phone, clumsily and turned it on. 3:43am. His parents would have killed him back then. But now they didn’t care. Now they didn’t even know about him going out in the middle of the night, high and totally drunk.

Lucas unlocked his phone, opening Google Maps, as the screen suddenly turned black. He forgot to charge it back home and now he had nothing to start with.

He was lost.

“Fuck this”, he mumbled to himself and took a turn in a dark alley, thinking to himself that this was the right way back home or at least to a place familiar to him.

His steps slowed as he realized that this alley was too dark. That the light from the street lanterns didn’t reach into the darkest corners of this place and Lucas shivered, his nerves on the edge of a panic attack.

He slowed down, stopping eventually.

Something was wrong.

He could sense it in the air and in the way the hair on his neck raised.

He took a deep breath and turned around when the first punch hit him right in the face.

Lucas stumbled backwards, his already aching head throbbing with pain, as the second punch landed on his stomach. Lucas coughed and doubled over, falling down on his knees. He wanted to fight his attackers, he wanted to punch them and hurt them. But he was too weak, the attackers knowing that he was drunk as fuck and not able to fight back in this state.

“How does this feel, Lallemant? To be weak? No one of your friends are here to defend you.”

Lucas slowly looked up, the pain in his skull making him see stars. The light from the lanterns shone behind his attackers, making it impossible for Lucas to see their faces in the shadows.

“What the fuck do you want?”, Lucas spat and blood was running down his chin, making him sick.

The others laughed and one of the male figures stepped in front of Lucas.

“We?”, he asked innocently and Lucas could see the flashing of teeth.

“We want nothing. Just a little fun with a spoiled brat like you.”

He lunged out with his leg and kicked Lucas into his side, sending him to the ground, coughing.

_This is it. I am going to die here._

“This should just be a little reminder that you cannot get away with everything.”

Another kick in Lucas’ side. He was too weak to fight. The tears were burning in his eyes while he tried everything to hold them back. This was not the first fight he was involved in but it was the first fight where he was absolutely terrified.

But Lucas still had some dignity.

He wouldn’t beg for it to stop. He would just sit it out and if he would die here, it would be the consequence for his own dumb behavior, for his own dumb decision to go out, drunk, not being able to orientate himself in the middle of the night.

_I’m sorry Mum. I’m so sorry._

“So, if you have something to say, we’re listening.”

He remained quiet.

“Lallemant? Are you there, Lulu?”

“Don’t you dare to call me Lulu”, Lucas hissed and the moment he spoke out the words, he knew that it was a big, big mistake.

“Oh, Lulu is threating us. How cute. Better we show him who the boss is here.”

And the punching and beating and kicking started again.

But this time, it wouldn’t stop.

Lucas curled in a little ball on the street, his cheeks now wet with his own tears and the blood from his own wounds. Maybe it would stop any second, maybe he would pass out and not wake up anymore. Maybe, maybe, maybe—

_Stay strong. Stay strong. Stay strong._

But every human had a limit.

“Hey!”

Lucas was on the edge of falling unconsciousness from the pain. His body couldn’t take anymore, even breathing was a pain.

“Stop. Leave. Leave right now.”

His attackers started to laugh, stopping their beating for a second. Lucas took a shaking breath.

“And you are…?”

Lucas hadn’t the strength to lift his head to see who was about to safe him and his ass.

“None of your business. But if you punch him one more time, I am going to call the police or break your nose. Make your choice.”

The other boys laughed, turning to Lucas again, wanting to ignore the other one.

But suddenly, Lucas heard a scream and a crack shortly followed after.

“Fuck, you broke my nose!”

“As if I haven’t warned you”, said the other voice calm and cool. “Who wants to be the next?”

Lucas could hear the shuffling of feet, his eyes still closed, ready for their next attack.

“This is not the end, did you hear us, Lallemant?”

Someone leaned in to Lucas, whispering these words into his ears and Lucas had to repress a sob which was climbing up his throat.

And then they were gone. As sudden as they came.

_I am still alive. How did I deserve this?_

Lucas was still curled into a little ball, his breathing fast and his head nearly exploding from all the pain. He felt dirty and worthless and tired and like he was being ripped apart from the inside. As he heard steps coming towards him, the panic inside him raised again. He was still on the ground as he tried to shuffle away from the person coming nearer and nearer. He couldn’t take more of this, not tonight.

_No, no, no, please, don’t._

“Lucas?”

There was no punch, no attack, only a thin voice hovering in the air in front of him. Lucas stilled in his attempt to flee.

After some seconds passed and nothing happened, Lucas slowly opened his eyes. And when he saw who was kneeling in front of him, when he saw who saved him and broke a fucking nose only to do so, he silently gasped.

“Eliott…”

A little smile was now appearing on the other ones face.

“Told you that you should go home.”

“Why… How… I…”

Lucas couldn’t even find the right words. His enemy, the boy he screamed at in the hallway, blaming him for his fucked up life, went after him and protected him without even being asked to do so. He just… did it.

“I went after you because I was sure that you couldn’t find your way home in this state.”

Lucas stared at Eliott through his swollen eyes, a bruise surely blooming on his right eye.

“Stalker”, Lucas mumbled after some seconds passed and Eliott let out a laugh which sounded like a sigh of relief to the same time.

“I am glad that you still seem to be the old you. Come on, let’s get you home.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know. But I’m doing it nevertheless. And I really needed to punch someone to get my dammed emotions out.”

“You are so weird.”

“A little thank you would also do it.”

Eliott grinned now and stood up, pulling out his hand for Lucas to help him up. Lucas was too weak and too tired to ignore this offer, so he just took the outstretched hand and promptly stumbled into Eliotts arm when he was on his own feet again.

“Thank you”, Lucas mumbled silently and meant not only the help of pulling him on his own feet again. They were standing close to each other now, Lucas breathing in Eliott in these tiny seconds and he felt… safe.

“It’s fine.” Eliott said and didn’t make an attempt to get Lucas away from him.

Eliott took off his own jacket and laid it carefully on Lucas’ shoulders, as if he would break the younger boy otherwise. In every other situation, Lucas would’ve protested against this, would’ve thrown away that jacket. But now, he pulled it closer, the warmth and masculine scent of Eliott comforting him and calming him down.

“Can you walk?”

Was this concern in Eliotts voice?

Lucas looked at him and asked himself for the tenth time this evening, what this boy was up to. Why he did what he did.

“Yeah, don’t worry.”

“I don’t. I just don’t want to carry you.”

“There’s no need to anyway, Stalker.”

Eliott smirked and they both took off, walking very slowly through the night. Lucas was following Eliott, trusting him to know the right way.

Now he even arrived at the point where he started to trust his enemy.

Lucas pulled Eliotts jacket closer while he shivered the whole time and pain was exploding in his head with every step he took.

“What? What is it?” Lucas sighed deeply looked up as he realized that Eliott was watching him, a slight smile on his fucking beautiful face. He looked beautiful in the moonlight.

_What a walking cliché you are. Admiring boys in the moonlight._

“Nothing. Just… the blood suits you. It brings out your eyes.”

And now, Lucas couldn’t hide a tiny smile forming on his lips anymore.

* * *

 

“Here we are.”

Lucas looked up as Eliott said these words and took in his surroundings. The pain in his head, in his whole body, blurred his senses even more than just the alcohol in his veins and it took him some moments to realize that they were standing in front of Lucas’ house.

“How do you know where I live?”

“I’m a stalker”, Eliott answered with a little grin.

_Great, now we’re starting to have insiders._

Lucas raised his eyebrows in a questioning look and Eliott sighed deeply, running his hands through his messy hair.

“Everyone knows that you live here, Lucas. As everyone knows where I live.”

He had a point.

Lucas and the whole neighborhood knew where the Demaurys had their house – it shouldn’t be a surprise to Lucas that Eliott also knew where the Lallemants lived. Know your friends but know your enemies even better.

Eliott looked up, taking in the house and Lucas did the same. Lucas stopped to think of this as “his home” weeks or months ago – it was just a place where he lived, a place where he slept and spent most of his time. But home meant a family, someone who cared. Lucas had nothing like that in this house anymore.

“Your parents are not home?” Eliott asked and Lucas looked at him like Eliott was the drunk one from these two, not Lucas.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I mean… Maybe your dad is home and he could –”

“No.”

Lucas interrupted Eliott with this sharp word and started to climb up the stairs leading to the front door of his house. All he wanted now was a bed and a drink. Maybe a drink would be dumb in Lucas’ state but he nearly died tonight – maybe a drink wasn’t so dumb after all.

“I’m coming with you.”

Lucas heard steps behind him followed by these words and he spun around, needing to steady himself on the wall of his house from the sudden movement and the pain in his head caused through this.

“Absolutely fucking no.”

Eliott sighed again and halted in his movement.

“Someone needs to clean you up, Lucas. You have blood on your face and also on your clothes and there’s a bruise on—"

“I’m not a toddler anymore, Eliott. I can easily do this by myself.”

“You can not even stand by yourself anymore.”

And again, Eliott had a point.

Lucas looked at Eliott with narrowed eyes, trying to ignore the pain behind his eyes while doing so and the feeling of his shaky legs. He really needed to sit down.

And he really needed help.

“What is your fucking deal, Demaury?”, he hissed silently, thinking Eliott wouldn’t be able to make out his words. He couldn’t find a reason why Eliott did all of this, it was something that he couldn’t seem to grasp. But despite Lucas speaking so quietly, the other one heard it, taking these words as an invitation to keep moving up the stairs.

“I just… want to help”, Eliott said while slightly shrugging. He looked cute while doing so.

_Stop thinking of him as cute, Lucas._

“Enemies don’t help each other”, Lucas said in a bitter voice and turned around, ready to go inside and leaving Eliott standing there in the middle of the night.

“Then let us stop being enemies.”

Lucas stopped, his hand hovering over the doorknob.

_Let him be. He is speaking nonsense._

“Lucas. Look at me.”

And he did. Lucas didn’t know why, but he turned around and looked at Eliott. He wondered what the color of his eyes was. Sometimes, they seemed blue. Now, they looked like grey storm clouds before a thunderstorm.

“Are you not tired of this stupid feud?”

“I am tired of visiting my mum in the hospital because one of your kin seduced my mother.”

That hit home. He could see it in the way Eliotts eyes darkened and Lucas immediately felt regret blooming inside of him. And in this moment, where Lucas could see that he had gone too far, that he crossed a border with Eliott, he finally did it. He finally admitted in his mind what he had known for days now, never allowing himself to let the thought come through because it would destroy the picture of his world:

None of this was Eliotts fault.

It was as if someone took away dark tinted glasses from Lucas eyes who could finally see clear now where there was only dust before.

None of this was Eliotts fault.

Eliott went after him, in the middle of the night, making sure that he would get home safe, saving his fucking life. And now he even wanted to help him with his injuries, who did nothing but push him away, although Eliott tried to find some sort of peace more than once.

Lucas didn’t deserve any of this and he wanted to slap himself in this moment. He didn’t deserve any of Eliotts kind and caring personality. Lucas was just projecting every anger he had towards his family on Eliott without even really knowing him, without knowing his story and his point of view. He just did it, letting his anger for Eliotts family burn him alive from the inside. If it wouldn’t be a Demaury his mum had fallen in love with, it would’ve been someone else. No one could live with Lucas’ dad long enough. It would’ve come to this anyway, also without the Demaurys. And all Eliott ever did was being born with the wrong name, being at the wrong place to the wrong time, meeting the wrong person. Meeting Lucas.

This realization hit Lucas harder than a punch from these idiots back in the dark alley.

“You know what?” Eliott suddenly said after the quiet stretched out between the two, dragging Lucas out of his thoughts with his suddenly trembling voice. “They were right. Everyone was. You’re just a spoiled brat, holding on to your past and not being able to move forward, to change something about the way your life is going.”

Lucas stared at Eliott, blinking. Lucas had gone too far and Eliott had enough.

And suddenly, Lucas was afraid.

Because the only person who seemed to care for him, even if it was just a tiny little bit, was about to leave him. Because he was maybe too late to apologize for everything he did and said, because the realization of his dumb actions came not sooner.

“Eliott…”

“No, listen. I just wanted to be… kind. I really tried to”, Eliott was breathing harder, his hands were clenching into fists and Lucas’ heart started to race in fear, anger, anxiety.

“I wanted to end this. This… this stupid feud. I thought… I thought that you would think so too, that the fight between our families has no reason anymore, that it brings us nothing but pain. I thought that we could maybe change something… together.” Eliott was now running his hands through his hair again, pulling slightly at the strands and Lucas could do nothing but let the rant from the other boy drown him.

He deserved it.

“And when I saw you from afar, laughing with your friends all I wanted to was… making peace with you. Figuring something out together with you, on how to end all of this. I didn’t want to hate you because I had no fucking reason to do so. I was nothing but kind to you and you…”

Eliott was shaking his head slightly as if chasing away imagines or memories. He took one step closer to Lucas, hovering suddenly over him.

“And I don’t have a fucking clue why I went after you to protect you because, fuck, I am not responsible for anything you’re doing.” Eliotts voice was now breaking, trembling lightly. He looked into Lucas’ eyes and he had the feeling as if the taller boy could stare right into his soul.

“And… and I nevertheless felt like I owned you something, like I could prevent your life from becoming even worse than it already is and all of that because of me and my family.” Eliott took a deep breath, his voice already shaky and hoarse.

“But you… You are so fucking stubborn, god! You don’t want to change the course of your life because you think that all hope is lost for you, but Lucas. This is not the case. You can still change your life and you can end this feud, _we_ can end this feud.”

Lucas stared at him, looking up into the other boys eyes, feeling the heath radiating from Eliott.

And Lucas felt nothing. Nothing at all.

Eliott looked at him with wide eyes, scanning his face, apparently waiting for an answer, but Lucas couldn’t say anything at all in this moment.

Because Eliott was right. He was right with every word about him and Lucas hated to admit this.

Eliott suddenly turned away and kicked against the trashcan next to the door. Lucas winced, the loud noise dragging him out of his trance-like state.

“God, I never met a person who is so stubborn and so broken and so _adorable_ to the same time.”

_Adorable? Did he just call me… adorable?_

Eliott didn’t seem to realize what he said, because he suddenly turned around in a fluent motion, all he did was looking tired. And something in Lucas’ pulled itself together at this sight.

“I… I tried. I really did. And… I’m sorry. For you and your family. And I will not… I will not bother you anymore. I am done here.”

Eliotts voice was tired, he looked pale and Lucas could feel how many emotions Eliott had held back to this moment, how much hope Lucas had just destroyed in only one second.

Eliott started to climb down the stairs again, about to leave, not turning around and Lucas had to do something.

Now.

Or he would lose the one person who really seemed to care about him, who really seemed to know him and his feelings without actually knowing him at all, forever.

“Eliott?”

Eliott stopped in his movement, turning his head into Lucas’ direction again, not turning around fully. He was surely awaiting some new kind of attack against him and his family.

“Could you… Could you maybe help me? With my wounds? I’m not sure if I can do this alone.”

Lucas’ voice was barely a whisper in the night and it was more difficult for him to say these words than he would ever admit to himself or anyone else. As Eliott turned around, Lucas knew that he heard him. Surprise was on the other boys face. And something else. Something like hope.

“Please…?” Lucas tried it again and he was still holding Eliotts jacket tight on his shoulders.

“I also still have your jacket… And you won’t get it back if you are leaving now.”

Something like amusement blinked into Eliotts eyes and he watched Lucas for some seconds before nodding.

“Okay”, Eliott said quietly and went up the stairs again, coming to a stop in front of Lucas. Lucas was much smaller than him and he also felt really small right now.

“Okay?”

Eliott smiled slightly.

“Okay.”

And this was the first time where Lucas smiled at Eliott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for so many emotions in one chapter


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

“Lucas, could you just… hold still for a second?” Eliott was blowing a strand of his hair out of his forehead. Lucas had to hold back a smile.

Lucas was restless. All the thoughts inside him seeming to flood his body with adrenaline, making him want to move or jump or run or everything to the same time. The tiredness seemed to be forgotten.

The thought of Eliott being in _his_ house, cleaning him up, was nothing to make Lucas’ restlessness better though. But since Eliott entered this place, all he did was caring about Lucas as if they would know each other for years by now. And this touched something in Lucas, sending a spark flying through his insides.

“I think there is no need to go to the doctors with these wounds”, Eliott murmured while holding the wet cloth to Lucas’ eye. Lucas winced and bit his own lip, the pain making him see clear for a moment.

“You seem to know a lot about wounds. And how to break other people’s noses.”

Eliott smirked and looked at Lucas, straight into the other boys eyes.

Lucas heart skipped a beat. Involuntarily.

“My own business secret”, he said while still smirking and Lucas stopped to hold back his smile now. Eliott took his gaze away from Lucas’ eyes and touched his face with one finger now, turning Lucas face to the right side to examine the bruise on his jaw. Eliotts touch was warm and gentle and if someone would’ve told Lucas that this situation would happen in the future, he would’ve punched that person for talking bullshit.

“You’ll need ice for that. Otherwise, nothing is broken and there will be no remaining scars. Only some bruises, but these will fade away after a time.”

Lucas nodded and secretly admired Eliotts skills in this field.

There were some moments of silence, before Lucas cleared his throat and looked down, biting his lips in a nearly shy manner.

“Thank you”, he said silently and he could feel Eliotts gaze coming to rest on him.

“It’s fine. I—”

“No, it’s not.”

Lucas looked up as he interrupted Eliott who had gone silent, still watching Lucas, waiting for him to continue. Lucas took a deep breath, readying himself for talking about his feelings. Which he really hated actually. He was never good at it, but he had to try to at least.

“You didn’t have to do this. Any of this. You didn’t have to be nice to me, apologizing for the mental state of my mum. You didn’t have to reply when I wrote you on Instagram. You didn’t have to come after me, taking care of me at the party. You didn’t have to follow me to make sure that I got home safe. You didn’t have to fight these idiots because I was too weak to do so. You didn’t have to walk me home and you didn’t have to clean me up.”

Eliott opened his mouth to reply, but Lucas was faster than him.

“You didn’t have to do any of this and yet… yet you did. And I just… thank you.” Lucas took a deep breath and looked at Eliott now, straight into the other ones eyes.

“And I am sorry. I am sorry for treating you like shit and I am sorry for blaming you for something that wasn’t your fault.”

And he said it. It felt strange to finally speak out what he had thought about for hours and days now. It felt strange and… good. Eliott was not the reason for Lucas miserable life – that didn’t mean that he liked his family and that he didn’t blame them in general.

“That does not mean, that I like you. Or that we’re friends now”, added Lucas quickly.

Eliott looked at Lucas and a smile tugged at his lips.

“You really treated me like shit”, Eliott said after some moments passed and Lucas couldn’t help himself and threw the still wet cloth right into the other ones face. Eliott protested loudly and laughed.

“You’re an idiot”, Lucas said.

“Thank you, you too.”

Eliott was now smiling brightly, his whole face lighting up this way.

_He is even more beautiful when he smiles._

Lucas shook his head slightly to chase away these thoughts but all this headshaking couldn’t chase away the smile on Lucas’ face.

“I accept your apology, Monsieur Lallemant.”

“Oh, how generous of you, Monsieur Demaury.”

Lucas grinned at him and stood up, walking slowly over from the couch table to the counter of the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. The thought of a drink he so desperately wanted some minutes made Lucas sick at this moment. Behind him, he heard movements and turned around to see Eliott approaching the piano in the corner of the living room.

“You play piano?”, asked Eliott and his fingers were hovering over the keys as if they wanted to do a little dance. Lucas came over to him, the glass of water in his hands and shrugged slightly.

“A little bit. Not good though.” He put the glass on top of the piano next to family pictures of Lucas and his parents.

Eliott nodded and sat down in front of the instrument, looking up to Lucas.

“I can also play a bit. Not good though.” Eliott smirked again as he used the exact same words as Lucas and Lucas shook his head slightly, a smile already on his lips again.

_Since when do you smile so much, Lucas? Must be the alcohol._

“Well, go ahead. I haven’t used it in a while.”

“Wouldn’t it be more fun if we would play together?”

Lucas raised his eyebrows in a skeptical look and Eliott laid his head to one side, challenging him with that look.

“Are you afraid that I’m going to bite you?”, Eliott asked with a superior smile plastered on his face.

Lucas knew that this smile would be his death someday.

“You should be afraid about me biting you”, Lucas said and sat down next to Eliott on the little stool. The space they had to sit was very little so their legs were pressed together and their bodies were close to each other.

Lucas looked at the piano keys and took a deep breath. He hadn’t played in a long time actually. It reminded him of the times were his mum used to teach him how to play. When life was still good and peaceful, full of laughter and music and harmony and –

“Lucas?”

The soft, quiet voice from Eliott brought him back in the here and now and Lucas smiled, hiding the emotions inside him, closing the door to the memories of better times.

And then, Lucas just started to play. His fingers started to fly over the keys, first slowly and soft and then with more force, more emotions. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Eliott watching him, sitting totally still and quiet next to Lucas as he played. And Lucas felt good. He felt so good to drown himself in the music, the keys under his fingers soft and the sound of the piano soothing his thoughts.

Lucas was so lost in the music, that he only realized Eliott joining him after some seconds. Lucas turned his head and caught Eliotts gaze, both of them halting in their movement, a little break in the piano piece being the result. Their faces were close to each other and still… Lucas couldn’t make out Eliotts eye color. He just knew that he had one of the most intense stares he ever witnessed. Eliott was now smiling lightly, his fingers starting to play again and Lucas’ fingers did the same. Eliott seemed to know the song, seemed to know the notes, easily playing alongside Lucas.

And when Lucas looked down on the keys again, a smile, a real and honest smile was blooming on his face and a warm feeling was blooming inside of him during this intimate moment.

Lucas lost track of time, lost track of long they had been playing. But as he looked up again, the room was filled with a golden light, the night already changing into day again. Lucas was getting slower with the music, Eliott following him and they ended the piece together, their hands still lingering on the keys even after the last echo of the sound has faded away.

Lucas let out a tiny breath and looked at Eliott, who already had his gaze on him. There was something on the other boys face which Lucas couldn’t name. But he liked it. He liked that impression on Eliott.

“Not good though? You’re really talented, Lucas”, Eliott suddenly said after all this time of not talking, only being surrounded by the sound of their own music. His words were so honest and their was even a hint of admiration in them. Lucas heart jumped at this.

“You are not so bad yourself”, Lucas answered and felt himself blushing. He usually never blushed and when he did, it meant something.

But Eliott didn’t mean something to Lucas.

_Are you sure about that?_

Eliott still looked at him and Lucas was captured in his gaze. His eyes were scanning Eliotts face, the face of the boy he was supposed to hate and who was now more than just an enemy. Something happened between them as they played together. Something changed.

_This is bad._

With a sudden movement, Lucas stood up, clearing his throat again and running his fingers through his messy hair. A headache manifested itself in his head and the thoughts were racing around his mind again.

“I… I think it’s better for you to go now”, Lucas said with a suddenly hoarse voice and Eliott looked… hurt? Confused? He couldn’t name it. The emotions on his face passed after a second, a neutral impression hiding his real emotions. Eliott was standing up, nodding.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. My parents will already think I was beaten up in dark alley, not being able to call for help anymore.”

“Well, this would’ve been me if it wasn’t for you.”

The both of them stared at each other, something hanging in the air between them and Lucas had to break the eye contact because he couldn’t stand still under Eliott intense gaze.

“Thank you. Again. For…”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry, okay?”

Eliott smiled as he put on his jacket, walking with Lucas to the front door. Lucas smiled a bit, looking down and nodded.

“Okay.”

As he looked up again, Eliott was setting his hood on his messy hair, hands buried in the pockets of his trousers.

“Get well soon. And if you need something…”

“I know.”

“Yeah…”

There it was again: The stare between them, neither wanting to break it. This time, it was Eliott looking down.

“Okay… Good night. Or good morning.”

Lucas laughed silently and nodded.

“Good morning.”

And with that, Eliott left and Lucas was closing the door, leaning against it. He closed his eyes for a second, letting out a long breath as if he just held his breath for minutes.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

* * *

Eliott hid his face behind the hood on his head. Or better not his face but the smile on his lips. It seemed to be plastered onto his face, not going away since he left Lucas’ house.

They played piano together. Lucas was talented and it took Eliott by surprise that the other boy could play so well, the soft side from Lucas new to Eliott.

But he liked it. A lot, if he was honest with himself. He was… fascinated by that boy who had so many different sides. And Eliott wanted to explore all of this more.

They had a very intimate moment together. More than one, to be honest. And Eliott… felt good. He felt good after telling Lucas about his feelings, about how he only wanted to help him and his own family, not spreading any more hate than there already is in this world.

He felt good while kicking that trash can and he felt good while looking into Lucas’ shocked eyes, glad that the other boy could show another emotion instead of just anger, sadness or fear. And he felt good when Lucas smiled at him shortly after his little emotional break-out. He felt good because something changed between them, something fundamental. The hate and the negative tension hovering in the air whenever they were near to each other changed for something different, something Eliott couldn’t name for now.

Eliott looked up, his eyes scanning the horizon and the morning sun made everything look moody. He wouldn’t get sleep anytime soon but it was a good decision that he went after Lucas. He wouldn’t have forgiven himself if something had happened to him while Eliott knew about the possibility of it, not doing anything at all.

The tall boy could see his house in the distance already, his steps slowed down on their own account. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, the tiredness slowly settling into his bones.

And all he saw now while his eyes were closed, were Lucas’ ocean eyes.

And they didn’t seem to fade away from his memory anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blows kiss at my laptop screen where I'm rewatching the piano scene for the 10428438th time* this is for you.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas was sure that he never had such a bad hangover in his entire fucking life.

He groaned as he opened his eyes, the sun seeming to trigger an explosion in his head with its brightness.

Lucas needed some moments to recall what happened yesterday night. But when he tried to sit up and a sharp pain went through his body, the memories of it all came back.

The party, the dark alley, his attackers, Eliott.

Eliott.

Lucas’ head fell back on the pillow and he laid an arm over his eyes, shutting the sun out for a moment. Eliott went after him, Eliott took care of him, Eliott played with him piano. Eliott stared into Lucas’ soul with his piercing gaze.

Eliott, Eliott, Eliott…

“Gosh, what the fuck is _wrong_ with you”, said Lucas quietly to himself.

Eliott was supposed to be his enemy, he should hate him and not… think about the color of his eyes or his messy hair where he would gladly drive his hands through and –

_Stop._

Lucas slapped himself in the face, trying to chase away all the thoughts about the other boy in this way. Since when was Eliott his first thought after waking up?

_Since he saved your life, putain._

Right.

Eliott protected him, even breaking the nose of one of his attackers without even being asked to do so it. He _cared_ about him. There are not many people in his life who seemed to genuinely care about Lucas and his well-being and this was the first time in forever where someone looked after him. And he felt a kind of warmth inside of him only when thinking about it. Lucas was an asshole to Eliott from the beginning and he was sorry about it. But he apologized and that’s it for now. They could go on with their lives, with their _separate_ lives.

Lucas took his phone from the nightstand, having a lot of new messages from Yann and the other boys. He choose to ignore these for now, his fingers automatically moving to Instagram, opening the app.

The first post on his feed was from Eliott.

Lucas raised his eyebrows and looked at the ceiling of his room.

“Is this some kind of joke or what?” He spoke into the silence of his empty house, addressing no one and everyone to the same time.

Lucas looked down on his phone again, adjusting the brightness so his head wouldn’t explode from staring at Eliotts new post.

It was a drawing. Nothing new, Eliott posted his drawings often, showing off his artistic talent. But this drawing was different. It showed two people from behind, sitting close to each other on a little stool. In front of them, a piano. Both of them looked down at the keys of the instrument, filling the air with music.

Lucas stopped to breath for a second, a smile creeping onto his lips.

No one could see the faces of the two people but Lucas just _knew_ who this was.

And Eliott knew that Lucas would see it.

He posted it because he _wanted_ Lucas to see it.

Lucas scrolled down, his heart beating rapidly in his chest and his eyes widened again when he read the caption of the photo.

_Qui n’avance pas, recule_

“Who does not move forward, recedes.”

For random people, the caption had nothing to do with the drawing Eliott posted. But to Lucas, it meant everything. Eliott told him that his life can still be changed, that his life and his happiness are not lost. And that they could change their fate together, moving forward to better times. If Lucas was brave enough.

Lucas kept staring at the caption but his thoughts traveled to his mum. To his mum who told him that Eliott and Lucas are the last hope for the peace of their families. Not only Eliott told him to be brave and go against everything he has known till now, but his mum did too.

Suddenly, the phone in his hand vibrated, announcing a new message.

Lucas’ heart kept beating like crazy when he opened the message section of Instagram, clicking on his newest chat.

The first thing he saw when he opened the chat between him and Eliott, were the absolutely embarrassing messages he sent yesterday. He groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. He really called him _pretty, talented boy._

It was even more of a wonder that Eliott came after all these messages. If Lucas would’ve been in his place, he would’ve laugh his ass off, sending the messages to his friends to mock Eliott with it.

But Eliott was also different in this case.

Lucas scrolled down to the newest message, trying to fight the feeling of embarrassment rising inside him.

 **srodulv:** how do you feel?

 **lucallement:** like the worst I’ve ever been.

 **srodulv:** you saw my post?

 **lucallement:** how could I NOT see it?

 **srodulv:** do you like it?

Lucas took a deep breath. Of course, he liked it. The thought that Eliott was apparently also thinking about him did something with Lucas. And the drawing was beautiful, as was the meaning behind it and the moment where exactly this happened.

He just had to be brave. He just had to stop denying that something… happened between them. One word and Lucas’ life would change.

But he was afraid. Afraid of what his parents would say, about what Eliotts parents would say, about what the world would say.

He was never been brave before and it wouldn’t start just now.

 **lucallement:** idk what this drawing is about but it’s okay

 **srodulv:** you are kidding me

 **lucallement:** no

Lucas looked the screen, watched Eliott reading the message, watched him typing. And then he made a decision. He closed the chat between the two of them, went to Eliotts account.

And blocked him.

Lucas locked his phone and threw it across his bed to his feet, out of his reach so he wouldn’t undo his action. His head fell back on the pillow again, wincing as he did so and he stared into the void. He knew that Eliott would see that he blocked him.

But it was better this way.

He had to push Eliott away from him, saving himself and his reputation from Eliott Demaury.

Saving himself from the feelings inside of him whenever thinking about the other boy.

But he couldn’t run away forever.

* * *

 

Days passed.

Lucas didn’t tell his friends about the night after the party. They asked about his bruises, about the pain which seemed to be present in the first days, but Lucas always found excuses. He tried to go on with his life, tried to forget what happened.

But his life changed.

It changed in that night when Eliott took care of him and they played piano together, looking into the other ones eyes.

Whenever Lucas saw Eliott in school, he tried to escape him. He always saw a smile blooming on Eliotts face whenever he spotted Lucas. And whenever Lucas turned around on his heel, taking another way, literally running away, the smile on Eliotts face disappeared and left a void inside of Lucas.

A week passed after Lucas’ exaggerated night. He was standing in front of the mirror on a Friday morning, examining his face and the bruises which finally seemed to fade away. The pain coming from his rips also slowly decreased, he was going back to his usual self. But his usual self didn’t think about his enemy all the time.

He was still examining his face when he suddenly heard the front door, a loud bang echoing through the empty house. Lucas frowned and walked out of the bathroom only to halt in his movement, a nearly shocked expression on his face.

“You”, hissed Lucas and his eyes darkened.

“Lucas.”

Lucas felt hatred rise inside of him as he saw his father, Jack Lallemant, standing in the hallway of their house. There was a time where he looked up to his father, seeing him as some kind of idol. But this time was long gone, as so many other times were long gone.

“What do you want here?”, asked Lucas and took some steps closer to him. The door behind him was still open and when he suddenly heard more voices, his heart started to race.

_This is not going to end well._

Behind his father, his two older Brothers Louis and Jules, were entering his house and Lucas felt some kind of panic rise inside of him.

“Hey, little brother”, said Louis, the oldest one and flashed him a smile. Oh, how Lucas hated all of them. His brothers always bullied him whenever they had the chance to do so. They humiliated him and showed him nothing but cruelty. And they stood with their father as… things went down. Alone for that, Lucas hated them. For supporting an abusive man.

“What is all of this about?”, asked Lucas carefully, already eyeing the door and how fast he could get out all of this. He felt the tension in the air and it was completely different than the tension between him and Eliott.

_There he is again in my thoughts._

“Aren’t we allowed to visit our little brother?” Jules was coming forward and as many steps as he took into Lucas’ direction, the same amount of steps took Lucas backwards.

“Not after abandoning me and this family”, said Lucas dryly and looked at Jules.

“Come on boys, stop this.”

His father was now stepping forward, stopping when he was in front of Lucas. Lucas was tired of backing down so he held his ground and looked up to his father.

“This is still my house and I can come home whenever I want.”

“This is not your home anymore.”

“Says who?”

Lucas held his gaze and watched him, not answering the rhetorical question.

“What. Do. You. Want. Here?” Lucas was speaking slowly, as if talking to a little child.

His father was spreading his arms innocently as if inventing Lucas for a hug. Lucas stood still, not moving a millimeter.

“I just want to talk with you.”

“ _We_ want to talk with you”, interfered Louis and gave Lucas another one of those creepy smiles which woke the sudden instinct to flee in Lucas.

“Don’t you want to sit down?”, asked his father, already moving into the direction of the living room. Lucas couldn’t stand this man being in this house, memories of certain nights crushing over him. Lucas crossed his arms, leaning his body against the wall.

“I’m good standing. And since you three are going to leave soon, I don’t see any reason to sit down with you.”

They were silent for a moment, all of them and then his father sighed and his mask fell. Now Lucas saw the cruel and brutal person he really was, his mouth curling into that impression that Lucas hated with his entire being.

“Fine. I tried to be polite but if you want it that way, then we’re doing it that way.”

And as his father nodded into the direction of Lucas’ brothers, they were darting forward. And before Lucas could do anything else, he was being pressed against the wall behind it, the sheer force of it knocking out the air of his lungs.

“What are you doing with that Demaury brat?”

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, answered Lucas breathless, his brothers holding him into place with their strong bodies. Louis was smiling his maniac smile the whole time and Lucas had the feeling to get sick.

“I know that he was here. In our house. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” His father came nearer and Lucas struggled against the grip of his brothers. But he couldn’t move a tiny bit.

“Even talking with him is a betray to our family. You are _disgrace_ to your name and to our family.”

Lucas knew how his father thought of him but to hear it was something else. Something inside him went lose, the anger and the hatred he used to feel for the Demaurys coming to the surface of his being again.

“I hate him as much as you do! He stalked me!” Lucas suddenly blurted out, his voice muffled by his breathlessness.

_Fuck the shut up, Lucas._

“What?”

“He stalked me and he went after me and…”

“This is it. Enough is enough.”, interrupted him his father, a shocked expression on his face and something like… madness in his eyes.

“This is the point where we have to do something”, said Jules and let go of Lucas suddenly. Lucas dropped to the floor, breathless, staring at the carpet in front of him while trying to breath properly again.

_What have I done?_

“They went too far with this”, agreed Louis and he heard the cracking of knuckles through the blur of it all.

“What… what are you…”

“Let’s go. We know where he currently is.”

“Hey, where are you going?” Lucas finally made it to drag himself him, rubbing the place on his neck where Louis pinned Lucas to the wall. The others didn’t seem to listen to, didn’t even to acknowledge him still being there on the floor. Lucas’ brothers and his father suddenly turned around and stormed out of the house, leaving as quickly as they came.

“Hey!”, Lucas screamed after them and ran down the front stairs of their houses, standing in the middle of the street. But they were already around the corner. Lucas felt dizzy and he closed his eyes to recall the conversation they had, everything seeming to blur together.

_He stalked me._

_Enough is enough._

_We know where he currently is._

And then realization hit Lucas.

“Oh my fucking god”, he whispered breathless, his hands starting to shake. And then he took off, running as if his life depended on it.

Or the life of another one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger and all the angst (i'm not THAT sorry but hey, I apologized at least)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild violence

“Yann?”

Lucas was already out of breath streets ago. He hadn’t had time to wait for the bus, he needed to be faster than this stupid bus who only came once an hour. So he ran. He ran while some pictures in his heads formed that he never wanted to see in real life.

But all of this could be real in this very moment. And it was Lucas’ fault.

“Lucas? What’s wrong?”

Yann heard Lucas’ alarmed voice and he was grateful that his friend wasn’t in class just yet. His hand which pressed the phone to his ear were already shaking, Lucas panting into the speaker, trying to form proper words.

“My father… I—”

“What? I cannot understand you. Why are you so out of breath? Classes are starting soon and—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, YANN!”, Lucas screamed in the middle of his marathon, people turning around as he nearly knocked them over.

“Is Eliott in school?”

“What? Why do you even care? You are really acting strange these days—”

“IS ELIOTT IN SCHOOL?” Putain, why couldn’t Yann just answer Lucas’ questions?

“Yeah, he is. Of course he is.”

“Stay with him.”

“What?” Lucas could hear the confusion in Yanns voice and he couldn’t blame him at all.

“Just… stay in his reach. Please. I’ll be there in some minutes. And when something happens, call the police.”

“Lucas, I don’t understand—”

“Do it for me, Yann. Please.”

And with that, he finished the call and put his phone back into his pocket.

Lucas still had some distance between him and his school and his legs seemed to give up any second from now on. He was tripping, nearly falling down face-first and someone caught him. He thanked this someone breathless and kept running. He could see stars in his vision, he couldn’t breath and all he wanted to do was reaching his destination now. He turned the corner and he knew, that he was too late, when he saw the school and heard the loud voices coming from the inside.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket numerous times and pulled it out while running towards the entrance, scanning the messages from Yann.

_Lucas!_

_Lucas, where are you?_

_Fuck, what are your brothers doing here?_

_I’m so sorry, I couldn’t hold them back, I called the police. I -_

Lucas couldn’t continue to read. He felt sick while opening the door of the school with a bang, running along the empty hallways.

He knew where all of them were.

And when he entered the main courtyard, he saw all the pictures he imagined in his head. Only that they were real this time and not some imagination.

A crowd had gathered, standing around something which happened in the middle of their circle. People were running inside, trying to get help or something. But most of them were just standing around, even pulling out their phones, filming all of this. Lucas clenched his fists and started to push through all of this.

“Let me—"

The people parted as if they could sense the anger radiating from Lucas and he was angry. He could only see red and when he saw what was happening right in front of him, he really felt like throwing up.

His two older brothers were beating up someone.

No, not someone.

Eliott Demaury.

Eliott was on the ground, trying to fight against their fists, but he was already in too much pain. There was blood on the ground and the smiles from his brothers while beating up Eliott where so _fucking wrong._

This was Lucas’ fault. He never wanted it to come this far, he never wanted to hurt someone, especially not Eliott after everything that happened. After Eliott saved him.

And now he would save him right back.

Now, Lucas would finally be brave.

Something escaped Lucas. Something like a growl. And in the next second, he was literally jumping at Jules, pulling him away from Eliott and punching him in the face when his brother finally turned around to him.

“You piece of giant shit”, hissed Lucas and punched him again. A collective gasp was running through the crowd but Lucas didn’t care what his fellow students would think of him now. All the years of being humiliated, all the years of crying himself into sleep as a little boy, all of this was now laid inside these punches. He could feel blood on his knuckles and _fuck,_ this shit hurt way more than it always looked like in movies. He was shaking his hand and looked down at his bruised knuckles for a moment, when his brother apparently processed the first shock.

“What the f—”

But before his brother could say anything more, Lucas was already giving him another punch on his jaw. Jules fell back, his hand pressed to his nose which was now bleeding.

“My nose!”, his brother was calling out and Lucas couldn’t hide the smile on his face anymore.

This felt _way_ too good.

“Oops”, said Lucas innocently while feeling some kind of satisfaction inside of he. His attention flicked to his other brother, when he saw Yann pushing through the crowd out of the corner of his eye. Yann was not wasting any second before pulling Louis away from Eliott. Or at least trying to do so.

“I could need some help here”, called Yann in a high-pitched voice over his shoulder as he struggled against the way stronger Louis. Basile and Arthur were suddenly in the middle of it all, too and together, they held Louis away from Eliott. Lucas was grateful for his friends, for their loyalty, for not asking why. If Louis would hurt them, Lucas would show another side of him. But Yann and the other boys seemed to be fine, holding Louis’ arms behind is back.

“Eliott.”

Jules was too occupied with his bleeding nose than to care about Lucas crawling to Eliott. Eliott was slowly sitting up, his arms shaking while he pressed himself up from the ground. Lucas scanned him and his face, he was bleeding and he looked way worse than Lucas looked back then.

“Come on, let’s get you away from here”, said Lucas in a surprisingly soft voice and laid an arm around Eliott, helping him up.

“They—”

“I know. No need to talk now.”

Lucas looked over to Yann and nodded at him, mouthing a silent “Thank you”.

“Do you really think this is going to work out? Any of this?”

Lucas stopped with Eliott and slowly turned around as Louis screamed at him that way. The crowd had gone so silent that you could hear the wind ruffling the leaves on the ground. Everyone knew who the Lallemants were and everyone knew that these two were Lucas’ brothers. And everyone also saw just now how Lucas turned against them and helped his “enemy”.

“You two are not a disgrace to our family. You are a disgrace to the human race”, said Lucas in a quiet and calm voice, watching the shocked expression on his brothers face. He tried to wrench himself out of the grasp from the other boys to attack Lucas, but three against one was a game Louis couldn’t win.

Lucas felt _so fucking good._

And finally, some of the teachers entered the courtyard with the police who went straight to Jules and Louis. This was not the first time where his brothers got involved into a fight or a crime.

Yann threw a glance over his shoulder pointing with his head to the building behind them and Lucas granted him a thankful smile. And before they talk with Lucas or spot him, he disappeared into the school building with the bleeding Eliott in his arms, keeping him safe, at least for this moment.

And this was the least he could do for Eliott.

* * *

“It’s just a scratch.”

“Your whole fucking face is bleeding.”

Eliott lifted his head as Lucas said these harsh words and Lucas held his gaze steadily. Lucas brought Eliott in an empty classroom, getting some wet towels from the bathroom on their way. Eliott could barely walk and he collapsed into the seat as soon as they arrived. Lucas was now kneeling in front of him, looking up.

“So, let me help you”, said Lucas with a softer voice and lifted his hand, but Eliott turned his head away. Lucas halted in his movement.

“Don’t do this”, he said quietly and Lucas winced slightly at the pain which filled the other boys voice. He felt shame inside of him and regret and fear and—

“What?”

“Don’t act like you care.”

Silence stretched between them, Eliotts words heavy in the air. Lucas felt them like a punch in his stomach, his insides twisting slightly. Eliott turned his head back to Lucas and looked at him with his intense stare that made Lucas heart beat faster involuntarily.

“But I do care”, Lucas protested lightly.

“You ran away from me the last days. I thought…” Eliott took a deep and shaky breath and looked down at his hands, his knuckles bruised from his defense against Lucas’ brothers. “I thought that something changed between us. In that night.”

Suddenly, Eliott straightened and looked at Lucas with an empty and emotionless gaze.

“But I was wrong.”

_You fucked up, Lucas. Again. You didn’t want to brush him off? Well, congratulation for achieving the complete opposite._

“No, you weren’t”, said Lucas quietly after some moments of silence. Because he was tired. He was tired of hiding his feelings and he was at a point, where he couldn’t deny his feelings, these… strange feelings, for Eliott. And he was tired of playing the game his parents wanted him to play. He was tired of being a figure on their chess board. He was his own master and he would act on his own accord.

And he would stop pretending. This was the time, where Lucas would start to be himself rather than someone who he was supposed to be.

When Lucas looked up, he found Eliott watching him, waiting for some kind of explanation for his words.

“I am sorry, okay? I –”

He didn’t even know how to explain himself. He was just stupid, afraid what the world would think of him when he was being seen with a Demaury. But this time had to be over now. Too much happened for him to ignore the course his fate seemed to have chosen for him.

“You were right. All the time. This feud is… shit. Blaming you was stupid. Fighting in someone else’s fight was stupid.” Lucas took a deep breath and lifted his gaze to Eliotts eyes. “Pretending that nothing… happened was stupid. I was stupid. And I am here to… to change. I am here to help you and to say sorry. This was all my fault and—”

“Lucas.”

Lucas stopped his rant and bit his own lip, watching a tiny smile appear on Eliotts lips.

“You are cute when you’re rambling and I wouldn’t want to stop you. But it’s fine. I am glad that you realized how stupid this feud really is. You needed time to figure out all of this by yourself and that’s… okay. This all is new to you and it’s totally relatable to be confused. And I couldn’t have expected from you to be completely different from one day to the other.”

Lucas couldn’t believe the kindness he was being given from Eliott. He didn’t deserve it.

“And I’m sure that your brothers would’ve beaten me up one way or another. You maybe were the trigger, whatever happened, but this doesn’t mean, that this is your fault. Just like it’s not my fault that your mum fell in love with my uncle.”

Lucas slowly nodded and tried to process all of this. Tried to process this new way of thinking. To distract himself, he slowly lifted the towel.

“May I?”

Eliott slowly nodded and Lucas sat up, slowly and carefully wiping away the blood from Eliotts face. Exactly as Eliott did it for Lucas, back then.

“The blood looks good on you. It brings out your eyes”, Lucas murmured quietly while hiding a smirk. Of course, Eliott realized that Lucas chose the same words as he did on that particular night.

“Thank you”, Eliott said smirking. But his smile faltered, as Lucas apparently touched a sensitive spot in the other ones face. Lucas bit his lips again and went on, very carefully.

“Maybe you should go and see a doctor.”

“Or maybe I shouldn’t.”

“What will you say to your parents?”

“That someone beat me up.” Eliott looked at Lucas through swollen eyes. “And no, I won’t tell them about you. We are a team now, right?”

Lucas halted in his movement, but he began to smile. He couldn’t hold it back anymore and he also didn’t want to. A team… A team with Eliott Demaury. The sheer absurdity of it made Lucas chuckle silently. And it also elicited a smile from Eliott.

“The smile suits you.”

Lucas was now close to Eliott, the hand with the towel on the other ones cheek and Lucas could hear his own pulse in his ears. Why did his heart race? Why were his hands cold and sweaty? Why did his eyes travel to Eliotts lips?

“I’m not the kind of person who smiles a lot”, Lucas admitted quietly in the tiny space between them, looking up into the sparkling eyes from Eliott.

_The blood really brings out his eyes, putain._

“Well, then it’s time to change that”, Eliott said equally quiet and suddenly leaned it. Lucas nearly dropped the towel. There were times, shortly after the incident with his parents, where Lucas would flinch away every time someone came close to him. There was a time where not even Yann could touch him.

And now… now he didn’t flinch away. Now he stared at Eliott as he came closer and closer…

Suddenly, the vibration of a phone destroyed the nearly magical atmosphere and Lucas was dragged into reality again. Eliott looked equally sad that this moment ended too soon, but he fished out the phone from his pocket and sighed deeply.

“My parents… they want me to come home, now.”

“They heard about the fight.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

“I am sure that my father is already waiting for me at home too”, said Lucas while slowly standing up. Alone this thought made him sick and woke the instinct to just… stay here. Forever. Maybe not alone but just away from his father.

Eliott nodded shortly and stood up himself. But as soon as he was standing, he swayed on his feet, apparently feeling dizzy. Lucas nearly jumped up and steadied him by throwing one arm around him.

“Easy”, he said softly and looked up to Eliott. Eliott smiled a bit.

“You would’ve caught me.”

“Of course. I don’t want to have even more blood on the floor then there already is now”, said Lucas smirking and Eliott let out a huff of breath which could be seen as a quiet laugh.

“I have to go now”, Eliott said quietly while Lucas was still holding him.

“I know.”

He took his arms away from Eliott, slowly, as if to make sure that the other boy could stand properly. Eliott walked towards the door, every step careful. But as soon as he reached the door, he turned around and looked at Lucas who was standing in the middle of the room, the now bloody wet towel still in his hand.

“Lucas?”

“Hm?”

“If there is something… wrong…” Eliott hesitated and cleared his throat, as if embarrassed by this situation.

_Is he blushing…?_

“If there is something wrong, contact me, okay?”

A smile was appearing on Lucas’ face. There it was again… the caring side of Eliott, the protective side. Eliott had every reason to dumb Lucas into the deepest ocean on earth. It was Lucas’ fault after all that all of that happened. But he chose to care, he chose to forgive Lucas and he chose to creep closer into Lucas’ life than Lucas ever expected.

“Okay”, Lucas answered quietly.

He watched Eliott as he left and raised one hand to his lips, brushing them with his fingertips. The lips, which were nearly kissed by his enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE BITCHES


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas walked home. He didn’t take the bus, he didn’t take the train, he walked the long way back to his noble neighborhood, already slightly shaking in negative anticipation on what he would find at home. He punched his brothers, he most likely got them into jail.

Did he feel guilty?

Absolutely fucking no.

It’s what they deserved, it’s what all of them deserved, except his mum.

He knew that his father would be there but he didn’t know what he would say. Or rather, what he would _do_ to Lucas. Months ago, he was even afraid to be in one room with his so-called father. And now… now he went numb. Now he didn’t care. He did the right thing and the feelings which were slowly but surely evolving for Eliott were also the right thing and he was tired and sick of backing down.

His father wanted to punch him?

Cool.

His father wanted to scream at him?

Alright.

His father wanted to hurt his friends or anyone who was _not_ involved in any of their family shit?

Lucas clenched his fists at this though.

_That is where my acceptance ends._

Lucas’ steps faltered and he stared at the ground in front of him. He was surprised. Surprised about himself and about his change of attitude. And Eliott helped him to become this person, not with pain or aggression, but with kindness and honesty. Lucas smiled slightly to himself despite the doom looming over him.

_We nearly kissed._

And although Lucas was afraid, afraid of what would happen after giving in to his feelings towards this nearly stranger… he wished that their moment in this empty classroom would’ve ended differently – with Eliotts lips on Lucas’.

Lucas didn’t realize that his feet took him automatically to his street and that he was nearly in front of his own house now. His heart started to race but his back straightened to the same time – he would not be a victim of his father and his emotions anymore. He spotted the car in front of his door before seeing the already open door. So his father really went straight to Lucas’ house. To punish him. Or something else. Lucas took a deep breath and started to climb up the stairs, ready and not ready to the same time.

_Let’s get things done._

His father already waited in the living room, lounging on the couch as if the whole world would bow to him in an instance.

Lucas would have done the same months ago – but he was different now.

“What do you want?”, asked Lucas while walking past the living room into the kitchen, getting himself some water from the tap. He was hiding his shaking hands, acting like he couldn’t care less about his father being here in his relatively safe space.

“You have blood on your shirt”, stated his father with this dangerous calm voice. Lucas knew that a storm was coming his way.

“If your sons wouldn’t have beaten up an innocent man, there would be no blood on my shirt”, said Lucas exactly as calm as his father. He was nearly proud of himself for holding up that façade of him that long.

After these words from Lucas, everything seemed to happen too fast. His father jumped up and rushed over to where Lucas was standing in the kitchen and the next thing Lucas knew, was that his father pinned him against the fridge, his arm on his neck so he couldn’t breathe properly.

_I should’ve gone to the police long ago._

“Do you really think that this Demaury boy didn’t deserve it? You told us that he stalked you. You told us that he was the fault for your misery.”

“I lied”, answered Lucas breathless while trying to breath. “I lied because I was stupid, only wanting to safe myself.”

“And now?”

“Now I want to safe the whole world from you, especially Eliott.”

“Your brothers only wanted to defend you honor”, his father hissed, his face close to Lucas’. “And you decided to… to save your own enemy? He deserved the pain and the beating.”

“No. No, he doesn’t.” Lucas was trying to gasp for breath, his heart beating painfully against his ribs. Panic was rising inside of him but this was not the time and place for freaking out.

_You will not die here._

“No one deserves pain, father. This is your business, not our business. And when you pull your children in this, then this is not our doing but yours and it shows how badly of a parent you are.”

Lucas pressed these words out of his mouth, the darkness at the corner of his mind slowly creeping into his sight, announcing the soon fainting of him. But he said what he said and he was proud. Proud of him for realizing how fucking wrong all of this was.

His father stared at him, lips slightly parted, an expression of pure shock on his face. He couldn’t believe that his son acted against him. He couldn’t believe that his own son decided to drop out of this stupid game and partner with his enemy against him and against this feud itself. Lucas could see all of this in his father’s eyes and he could also see how the anger took over. His father took his arm from Lucas’ neck and air flooded into his lungs. But Lucas didn’t had time to enjoy this feeling of fresh air. His father raised his hand in the same moment, ready to slap his own son with all the force produced by his anger.

Lucas caught his hand midair and looked him deadly in the eyes. The shock on his father’s face turned into confusion and Lucas enjoyed this display of emotions on the other one’s face.

“I think you already hurt people enough, don’t you think so?”

Something like a growl escaped his father’s mouth and he tried to wrench his hand out of Lucas’ grasp. But Lucas was stronger. For once in his life, he was stronger.

“You son of a…”

Lucas pressed his fingernails into his father’s hand, his heartbeat suddenly steady and sure.

“Don’t you dare to end that sentence. Just… shut the fuck up.”

“You will regret this. All of this. Trusting Eliott and the Demaury clan – this will be your doom, Lucas.”

Lucas laughed out without any humor, still holding the gaze from his father.

“You were my doom”, Lucas said quietly after some quiet seconds passed. And with that, he suddenly let go of his father’s hand and shoved him into the next cupboard. His father was too occupied with himself for this moment, watching the blooming of a bruise on his wrist. Lucas used this moment and was with some big strides in his room, locking the door from the inside. His father went after him, hammering against the door, calling him names Lucas would never forget.

_How could there be a time where I looked up to that monster?_

Lucas only realized now that his hands were shaking uncontrollable. He fished out his phone from his pocket, his hands shaking so much that he nearly dropped it. He unlocked it while his father was still trying to open that door, to hurt him with words and, when he would enter this room, also physical.

Lucas had to hurry now. His door wasn’t made of titan.

 **lucallement:** eliott

It took Eliott only some seconds to see the message.

 **srodulv:** you okay?

 **lucallement:** pick me up. Now.

please.

Eliott read the message but there was no answer. The panic in him started to raise again. Was Eliott not available at the moment? Did he just… refuse to pick up Lucas, to help him escape his abusive father? Lucas slid down the door, his head resting against the wood where his father was still striking the door again and again and again.

Suddenly, there was the noise of squeaking car tires. Lucas looked up and hope suddenly flooded his body.

_Okay, you have two choices. You don’t know for sure that this is Eliott. Either you stay in here and your father will eventually get to you, or you stand the fuck up and run._

Lucas didn’t have to think twice.

He stood up, took a deep breath and opened the door so sudden and fast, that his father stumbled past him into his room.

“Lucas! Stop!”

As if he would listen to his father. He showed him the finger and took off, running down the hallway, down the stairs. And when he saw who sat behind the wheel, a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

“LUCAS! If you don’t stop now and come back here then…”

Lucas swirled around. He didn’t care about the neighbors looking out of their windows already. Everyone should know what a monster Jack Lallemant is. Lucas was nearly glad that some witnessed this scene.

“Then what? Huh? Then you punish me? Sorry, but too late. You already did that with your presence in _my_ house.”

He heard the opening of the passenger door behind him.

“Come on, Lucas. Let’s go”, said Eliott in an urgent voice. But Lucas waited and watched. Watched the reaction on his father’s face as he realized who was about to pick him up.

“No… You cannot be serious, Lucas”, his father whispered but he could’ve screamed it, Lucas heard every single word.

“You are a _disgrace_ to this family and this name.”

“You know what?”

Lucas tilted his head to the side and looked at his father who was breathing really heavily, trying not to strangle his own son.

“I don’t want this name anymore.”

And with that, Lucas turned around, climbing into the car beside Eliott. And just as his father ran down the stairs, his arms outstretched as if already feeling Lucas’ neck between his fingers, Eliott pushed the pedal through and the car rushed out into the dawn, leaving Lucas’ father alone with the thought of hurting his own son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for this relatively short chapter but it's very important for our Lulu who finally grew up!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas tried to flex his hands which were held into fists the whole time since he climbed into Eliotts car. He looked out of the window, staring at the city rushing by while the lanterns went on and the lights on the streets started to twinkle.

Lucas had no clue where Eliott was taking him.

Eliott could kidnap him or just throw him into the nearest river. And yet… Yet Lucas trusted him. Because Eliott got him out of that hell also known as his former home.

“Are you okay?”

Lucas was dragged back to reality when Eliott addressed him. Lucas looked over to the other boy. Eliott was already watching the street again, holding tight onto the wheel. His hair was as messy as usual and the jumper he wore looked like he just threw it over himself in a rush. Maybe this was even the case after Lucas’ sudden message.

“I… I don’t know”, answered Lucas honestly and looked out of the window again. They seemed to leave the city behind, the more crowded place traded for empty roads.

“I feel nothing. I feel too much, I really don’t know.”

Lucas wasn’t sure if Eliott heard his words but the latter sighed deeply.

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“You do?”

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise as he turned his head to the other one and Eliott looked kind of shock, kind of panicked at Lucas’ question.

“I— I just have the same problems as you, Lucas. I’m the other part of your family feud, remember?” Eliott was now smirking a bit and on Lucas’ lips appeared a tiny smile.

“Your father… no one deserves to be treated like that, especially not his own son. I’m sorry, Lucas. I really am.”

Lucas heard the honesty in Eliotts voice and something inside him warmed at these words. He laid his head back, resting it against the seat he was sitting in.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m just really thankful that you picked me up.”

“I told you that you should contact me when you need me”, answered Eliott, throwing a shorty glance over to Lucas. “And I held my promise.”

“And you held your promise.”

Lucas smiled a bit and held Eliotts gaze for a second longer than appropriate. Eliott broke their eye contact to look on the street again and Lucas could feel his cheeks blushing. He was glad that Eliott couldn’t see it in the dim light of the car.

“You know…”, started Lucas quietly after some moments of silence between them. “I just want to be numb. I don’t want to feel anything.” He had the feeling that Eliott really understood him. That he could talk with him without being judged. That he… cared. And so he opened up, for the first time after weeks.

Eliotts gaze was fixed on the street and Lucas turned his head to see if there would come some kind of reaction from the other one. Did he went too far? Did he overestimated the relationship between them?

“Don’t say that”, he suddenly said softly as Lucas already thought of getting no answer at all.

“There… there are so many other emotions than anger or fear”, Eliott continued slowly while making eye contact with Lucas again, looking into his eyes the whole time. “So many other _better_ emotions.”

Lucas was sure that Eliott could look straight into his soul. And he also was sure that Eliott could hear his fast heartbeat in this second. Lucas already opened his mouth to answer, as Eliott took a turn with his car, driving down an empty road.

“Where are you actually taking me?”, asked Lucas now with a hint of a smile in his voice.

Eliott grinned, his eyes now suddenly sparkling.

“It’s a surprise. You’ll love it.”

“And you know this why…?”

Eliott parked on the side of the road and leaned back, turning off the motor. Lucas looked out of the window again, looking for some kind of signs where they currently were. But all he saw was the forest around them, stretching on and on.

“Because I just know it”, answered Eliott and left the car with a big grin on his face, slamming the door shut behind him. Lucas was left alone with the silence of the car in this moment and he closed his eyes for a second, a smile blooming onto his lips. Eliott wanted to distract him, to be… alone with him.

And suddenly, Lucas was nervous. But not the nervousness that twisted your insides. The kind of nervousness that made you feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins, wanting more and more from that feeling.

“Are you coming?”, asked Eliott suddenly while opening the door for him. Lucas grinned now. The thoughts of his father slowly shifting into the background, his eyes only fixed on Eliott for now.

“If I wanted to kidnap you, I already would’ve done it.”

Lucas let out a short laugh and climbed out of the car, wanting to bury his hands in the pockets of his jacket. But Eliott was faster – he reached out and took hold of Lucas’ hand. Lucas was surprised for a little moment but… he didn’t act against it. He actually enjoyed this touch of the beautiful boy in front of him who was literally beaming with light. The weakening sunlight made his eyes sparkle, the reddish light turning him into some kind of painting.

_What the actually fuck, Lucas._

“Come. Come on.”

And with that, Eliott pulled Lucas into the wilderness.

Lucas trusted Eliott. He trusted him and so he let Eliott pull him into an unknown location, climbing over branches and even a little fence. Eliott helped him, holding his hand the whole time during their walk.

“Eliott, putain, where the fuck are we”, Lucas said quietly while laughing. Eliott only answered with a smile and let go of Lucas’ hand suddenly. Lucas stood still for a moment where Eliott left him, the other one walking backwards while facing Lucas the whole time, grinning all the way. Lucas grinned equally bright, following him slowly. And suddenly, the branches parted and Lucas’ breath caught into his throat while his eyes widened.

He never saw this place before.

The last sunlight of the day was shining through the leaves, making everything look gloomy.

Especially the big, old ferris wheel right in front of Lucas.

 “Tada”, said Eliott while his smile took in his whole face.

They were in an abandoned leisure park.

“Mais non…”, said Lucas with disbelief in his voice while swirling around himself for some seconds. This place was stunningly beautiful. He lived in the city for as long as he could remember but he never heard about this place before. It nearly felt enchanted – the abandoned attractions, the ferris wheel being covered in leaves and branches. Everything about this place felt surreal – and exactly right in this very moment.

“Do you like it?”

Lucas jumped slightly as he heard Eliotts voice close to his ear. He hadn’t seen the other boy moving and now Eliott was close behind him. Lucas looked over his shoulder and only realized now, that he was smiling from one side of his face to the other.

“It’s… it’s beautiful. How do you know this place?”

Eliott walked around Lucas so that he faced him again, his hands lazily in his pockets. Lucas tried not to check him out but _fuck it_ , this boy looked so damn fine.

“As you know, my family is not the most easiest thing on earth. Like your family”, Eliott started and turned around, walking more into the leisure park now. Lucas followed him, his gaze fixed on Eliotts back.

“And when I ran away one night, I ended up here. Since then, it’s my… safe space. A place, where I can think about everything, where I can breathe again.”

Eliott suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing Lucas to run straight into him. He stretched out his hands to steady himself which landed on Eliotts broad back. Lucas could feel the muscles beneath his black shirt and he had to swallow. Eliott didn’t twist out of this touch and Lucas just stared at his back for some seconds, breathing in the others presence.

“And now you brought me here”, stated Lucas silently after some seconds and Eliott turned around at this. The taller boy was now looking down at Lucas, standing close in front of him and Lucas’ heart decided to jump out of his chest again.

“Yeah. Now I brought you here. Because you needed a safe space too. And my safe space is enough for the both of us.”

Lucas didn’t deserve this. Any of this. He didn’t know why Eliott treated him this way. Lucas smiled slightly, his gaze wandering from Eliotts eyes slowly to his lips. His mind brought him back to the scene in the classroom, just hours ago. It felt like years passed since this moment. Eliott seemed to realize the shifting of Lucas’ gaze and one corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

_He knows what I’m thinking and he likes it, this little shit._

Eliott slowly leaned in and Lucas’ looked up to Eliotts eyes again, his heart beating hard against his rips and everything in him was wide awake.

Only a few millimeter separated them.

Lucas counted in his mind.

_3…2…1…_

“Oh, do you know why I love this place in the first place?”

Lucas was totally perplex as Eliott suddenly spoke these words in the little space between them, their lips only an inch away from each other.

“What—”

Eliott pulled away, a smugly smile on his lips, walking slowly backwards.

“It’s perfect to play hide and seek.”

And with that, he ran off and was gone.

“Are you fucking serious now?”, Lucas breathed quietly and looked around himself. This little shit decided to let him suffer and to be honest, he deserved it.

And then, he grinned.

“Okay, challenge accepted”, he called loudly so that Eliott would hear it.

And with that, he ran after Eliott in the direction where the other one disappeared. Eliott had the advantage of knowing this place so Lucas was kind of lost when he walked around between the old rides, climbing over big branches or old left overs from the leisure park.

“Eliott?”

He liked the sound of his name in his ears.

“Where are you?”

Lucas stood in the middle of the way, surrounded by abandoned attractions and the forest in general. It was slowly getting dark and everything kind of looked the same. He didn’t know how he should find Eliott here.

Suddenly, he heard the cracking of a branch and swirled around in the direction of the sound. He heard some quiet chuckle and saw the scheme of something disappearing. Lucas grinned and took off again, running after Eliott.

“Give up. I found you already.”

“Not true.”

Lucas stumbled as the voice came from a completely different direction. He looked over his shoulder, already quite breathless from his hunt, his eyes sparkling with light. He took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair.

“Okay, I’m giving up”, said Lucas after some seconds of scanning his surroundings, slowly starting to walk back.

He found himself in a bumper car attraction very soon, climbing up the stairs and standing in the middle of the roadway. The cars were shattered around on the whole surface of that roadway – it looked like they were being left here in panic, no one caring about them anymore. Lucas stroked the surface of one of the tiny cars, his finger coming back stained with dirt. The last sunbeams were producing long and dark shadows on the roadway and Lucas really felt like being in a fairytale.

“Found you.”

Lucas jumped again when Eliott was so suddenly behind him, laying a hand on his heart in shock.

“Putain, don’t scare me.”

“You were scared?”, said Eliott with amusement in his voice, tilting his head to the side a little so that some of his messy hair was falling in his eyes.

It took Lucas a lot of strength not to reach out and brush the hair out of the other one’s eyes.

“I’m not scared. I was just… surprised.”

Eliott grinned and said nothing because he knew that Lucas lied and Lucas knew that he was a terrible liar after all.

“We should maybe leave, it’s slowly getting dark and—”

Lucas was about to walk past Eliott, when the other one grabbed his hand and pulled him towards him. The air was kicked out of Lucas’ lungs as he was suddenly pressed against Eliotts chest. Lucas had to lay his head back to look up at Eliott, the other one looking down on him with something so soft in his expression. Eliott was still holding his hand, not taking his eyes off of Lucas any second.

“I won this round”, said Eliott quietly and Lucas could do nothing else than staring into Eliotts fucking beautiful eyes.

“True.”

“And what is my prize?”

Lucas raised his eyebrows in a surprising expression.

“Your prize?”

_Why is my voice so hoarse?_

“My prize.”

“We never said something about a prize.”

“Now we do.”

Lucas felt himself enjoying the closeness of their bodies. Enjoying the heat radiating from Eliott and the scent of him, making his senses blur a tiny bit.

_What the fuck is happening here?_

“And what is it that you want?”, Lucas asked and went more and more quiet with every word. Eliott came closer again, like he did some minutes ago before their little game.

This time, Lucas didn’t count the seconds.

“I have something in mind already.”

And suddenly, Eliott laid his lips on Lucas and Lucas seemed to explode from the inside. His senses were suddenly not blurred anymore – every sense of him was wide awake and despite that, they were not able to grab what was actually happening here.

Before Lucas could understand it, he started to return the kiss, closing his eyes slowly. Eliott was a good kisser – his lips were warm and soft against Lucas’ and it just felt… right. Good. Perfect. The sun was warming Lucas’ face but his heart and his insides felt even more warm. The kiss was soft, Eliott being all careful as if being afraid to destroy Lucas otherwise, to break him.

But Lucas wouldn’t break.

Lucas was just starting to heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY GUYS YOUR SUFFERING IS ENDED
> 
> (this is a big fat lie - enjoy it as long as you can)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

They stayed in the abandoned leisure park till the night came. They were sitting on a fallen-down tree, Lucas’ head laying on Eliotts lap while the smaller boy looked up to the stars. No one would care if he stayed away this long and so he just enjoyed every little second with the other boy. They were exchanging kisses, touches and Lucas was smiling brightly the whole time as was Eliott. Lucas felt so good to finally admit his feelings, to finally stand up for them.

And for Eliott.

He was tired of this stupid feud and how it directed his life. It was time now to change the course of his life and by staying and being with Eliott, he took a step in the right direction.

“I love stargazing”, Lucas said quietly after they sat in silence for some moments. Eliott was playing with Lucas’ messy hair, looking down at him rather than the beautiful sky above them. He looked so… at peace with himself and his surroundings and Lucas felt the same. He felt like a big weight was lifted off his shoulders, he felt like finally being able to breath again. He felt… free. And safe. Safe in the arms of his potential enemy.

Who was now his lover.

“You do?”

Lucas nodded.

“When I was younger, I used to sneak out at night to just lay down in our backyard and look up into the stars. One time, I even started to count them”, said Lucas quietly and looked at the stars, scanning the night sky. “I always thought that every star was… special. That every star had a story to tell. And when they fell to earth as a shooting star, they were tired of keeping their stories to themselves, wanting to finally tell someone their story on earth.”

Eliott was watching him, the stars in his eyes even brighter than the sky above them. The older boy leaned down and kissed Lucas’ lips. Lucas closed his eyes, smiling against Eliotts lips. As Eliott pulled away, he still stayed close to Lucas’ mouth.

“You are still young, Lucas”, Eliott whispered now.

Lucas started to laugh and punched Eliotts shoulder lightly.

“Is this all you have to say to this, Monsieur Demaury?”

“Hmmm… Maybe I can also add that I never thought of you as romantic.”

“I am not romantic!”, protested Lucas immediately and Eliott rolled his eyes mockingly.

“I’m the king of romance. And if I know one thing then that stargazing really is the most romantic thing ever.”

“Would you consider this situation as romantic?”

“Of course I would! Wouldn’t you think like that?” Eliott was raising his eyebrows in sudden surprise and Lucas’ smile immediately went soft as he saw that the other boy saw some sort of importance in this whole romance thing.

“Okay, maybe this is a little bit romantic?”

“A little lot.”

Eliott was now smiling brightly again and Lucas’ new personal life mission was to keep that smile on these beautiful and soft lips as long as possible. Lucas pulled Eliott down and kissed his lips lightly, still feeling so dizzy whenever their lips met. This feeling could be compared to being high – but no joint in this world could make Lucas feel the way he did in exactly this moment.

“We should probably go soon. I don’t want to be lost in the forest. At night.”

“I think we could do a lot of things in the forest. Alone. At night…”

Eliott was smirking and Lucas’ heart jumped literally out of his chest as he saw in the sparkling eyes of the other one.

“We could also be killed in the forest. At night.”

Eliott rolled his eyes again which made Lucas laugh out. He sat up, running his fingers through his hair and stretching a bit. Eliott was already standing, holding out his hands for Lucas. Lucas took them and Eliott pulled him up, stealing a tiny kiss from Lucas that way.

They made their way back, laughing the whole time, holding hands. Lucas would never forget this night and this place and all the things which changed in some tiny minutes.

When they arrived back at the car, Eliott opened the door for Lucas and bowed a bit.

“Oh, how kind of you, Monsieur.”

“Always at your service”, said Eliott grinning and sat down behind the wheel. Lucas hand was automatically finding its way to Eliotts knee, stroking it with his thumb. Eliott was smiling brightly at that, starting the car which brought them away from this magical place into reality again.

* * *

“You know what? Let’s just run away. Together.”

“What?”

Some minutes have passed in which they listened to the music from the radio, just enjoying the presence of the other one and the quiet landscape rushing past them. They were now in the city again, Lucas starting to recognize the alleys and streets. When Eliott said these words, Lucas turned around, frowning slightly. Eliott was turning his head to Lucas and something… something in his gaze was off. It was something in the way his eyes lit up, his smile seeming too bright.

“I am serious, Lucas. Let’s run away. Leaving everything behind. No one would care.”

“I— I’m sure that my mum would care. And I would also care. I don’t run away from my responsibilities.”

“Lucas, no one would miss us”, said Eliott while laughing and Lucas was just watching him, not being sure what the fuck was going on.

“Why are you even thinking about this? I mean… didn’t you said that you wanted to end this feud? The fight between our parents would be even worse if we would run away together.”

Lucas liked the idea of being with Eliott, of course he did. Somewhere no one knew their names or their background story. Somewhere, where they could start again, just being themselves. But Lucas just found the bravery inside him and he wouldn’t run away from this feud – he would face it and end it, together with Eliott.

“Yeah, I said that. But I think I changed my mind. I just want to be with you, don’t you understand this?”

Eliott looked at Lucas and still smiled this… this smile.

“I also want to be with you, Eliott. And I’m sure that we will figure something out. But not this way – we need to face our fate and not run away from it, hiding. This is not how this feud is going to end.”

Suddenly, Lucas realized that they were driving fast.

Really fast.

Eliott didn’t seem to care, he just looked straight ahead on the road.

“We could steal some money from our parents to buy a house for ourselves”, said Eliott now as if Lucas didn’t say anything at all. “We could adopt a dog! Oh, I love dogs. Don’t you?”

Lucas was confused. Very confused.

And concerned.

Because Eliott didn’t seem to slow down with the car. Although the street was empty here at this late hour, Lucas felt some kind of panic inside of him, slowly but surely taking over his body.

“Eliott, could you slow down a little?”, said Lucas now quietly, his voice suddenly seeming weak. “I think that we’re not allowed to drive that fast here.”

“Maybe we could even live in another country. Oh, and we will definitely have a piano in our house where we could play together. Would you like that?”

“Eliott. Slow down the car.”

Lucas was being pressed into the seat by now, the world rushing past him in a blur.

“I will definitely paint the walls by myself. Maybe one wall will just be a giant mural out of all the colors in this world.”

Eliott laughed and Lucas was grabbing the seat under him so hard that his knuckles went white. Eliott didn’t seem to listen to him. He seemed to be in his own world, not even realizing that he drove that fast.

And that they were starting to slide over to the opposite lane.

Eliott was still rambling and everything seemed to slow down around Lucas for a moment. He could only hear his fast heartbeat in his ears and the blood rushing through his veins. Eliotts voice was somewhere in the background, the words slurred together while Lucas was staring out of the window.

While Lucas was staring at the car which was driving towards them.

With a rush, all the sounds came back. The honking of the other car horn was so loud that Lucas didn’t hear his own scream.

“ELIOTT!”

And before Lucas could overthink this, he reached over to Eliott and turned the wheel around with a sudden motion. The car was taking a drastic turn while the tires where screeching. Eliott finally seemed to realize what was happening right here and he pressed the break, the car coming to a stop just in front of a trench.

Lucas was shaking.

Eliott was panting.

They were alive.

_We could’ve been dead by now._

Lucas was starting to unbuckle his belt, his fingers shaking so much that he couldn’t seem to get it right.

“Let me help –” Eliotts voice was quiet but Lucas flinched away as the other boy was reaching over to him. He needed air, he needed space. He needed…

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck_

And finally, the belt loosened and Lucas was bursting out of the car. He gulped in some breaths of air, slowly kneeling down on the ground next to the car. He couldn’t trust his legs, he couldn’t trust his body to stand on its own shortly after some sort of near-death experience.

“Lucas…”

“ _ARE YOU FUCKING MAD?”_

Eliott slowly went around the car and was just about to kneel down next to Lucas as Lucas screamed these words into the silence of the night.

“You could’ve killed us! You… You didn’t slow down. _Why the fuck didn’t you slow down?”_

“I’m sorry… I—”

“You are mad. Or crazy. Or… I don’t know.”

Lucas was pulled his hair slightly, being in a state of total shock, not really knowing what he was saying or what he just did to Eliott with these words. He would only realize that later. Too late.

Lucas was now looking up to Eliott, tears in his eyes from the shock and the fear.

“Why didn’t you slow down? Did you even realize that a fucking car was coming towards us?”

Eliott was just standing there, his shoulders hanging down, looking like a lost puppy. The too bright light in his eyes was gone, the smile on his lips too.

“I… I don’t know what just happened…”

“Oh, you don’t know?”, said Lucas with sarcasm in his words.

“I’ll tell you what just happened. You nearly killed us. You nearly killed us while talking about our future, not even giving a fuck about what I said.”

“Lucas…”

“Don’t.” Lucas was holding up a hand. He was so afraid and so shock that he didn’t even think about asking Eliott how _he_ felt. How he was after their nearly accident. He only blamed him – like he had been doing it for the last weeks. Like he never wanted to do it again.

“If you wanted to kill me, you could’ve done it differently”, Lucas said with a bitter voice while slowly getting up. Eliott was taking an unsure step towards Lucas. When Lucas would recall that situation and their conversation later, he would realize that Eliott was equally shock about himself and this reaction.

Right now, Lucas was not caring. _Could_ not care at this very moment. He turned around and started to walk away from the car. He knew the streets, he knew how to get home from here.

“Lucas.”

Lucas was not listening, not turning around.

“Lucas, where are you going?”

“I am going home. I don’t want to drive in that car again. Not tonight.”

“Lucas… Please, stay here. I am sorry. I can explain it.”

His heart was telling him to stay. His heart was hurting by all the emotions in Eliotts voice, by the way his voice broke at the end of the sentence.

“Yeah, me too”, Lucas mumbled and kept walking.

His heart was telling him to turn around and burry himself in the arms of Eliott.

But his stupid mind won.  

* * *

Eliott was standing next to the car, frozen in place, as Lucas turned the corner and disappeared from his sight. That was when he slid down the car and didn’t hold back the tears anymore.

It happened again.

It happened in the exact moment where all he wanted was to stay happy and free with Lucas by his side.

And he screwed up.

Like so many times before.

He nearly killed Lucas. He nearly killed the both of them. He should have seen it coming, he should have… told Lucas about it. But he was afraid. And still is afraid of losing him. But now that all of that happened…

Now it was better that he lost Lucas.

Lucas deserved better than him. Better than a broken boy who couldn’t even control himself and his life. How should he be able to control himself in a relationship with someone he really cared about? How should he be able to control himself when it wasn’t about him but others too?

Eliott was banging his head against the car behind him, cursing himself and his whole being. He was turning his head in the direction where Lucas left, tears running down his cheeks.

He didn’t know how it would feel to lose something you really cared about.

Now Eliott knew.

And he felt like shit.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am... sorry?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else

The moment Lucas arrived at home, he knew that what he did was wrong. That he reacted wrong and that he should have stayed with Eliott who was most likely equally shock as Lucas. Lucas leaned against the door and closed his eyes for a moment, so many emotions rushing through his body. But all of the negative feelings seemed to fade away the moment he thought about their kisses, their touches, their little hide and seek play in the abandoned park.

A little smile appeared on Lucas’ lips.

They finally admitted their feelings for each other and Lucas felt good when he was with Eliott.

The smile disappeared from his lips again.

And then he destroyed everything by his dumb reaction. He was just shocked by everything but he should have reacted differently. And he should have listened to Eliott.

Lucas opened his eyes again and took out his phone while going into his room. His dad left, thank god, and he was finally alone again. He crawled into his bed, staring at the phone screen for some minutes before opening Instagram.

 **lucallement:** I’m sorry.

Lucas stared at the message.

 **lucallement:** I shouldn’t have reacted that way. How are you?

Usually, Eliott would be online within a second of Lucas sending the message. But this time, he didn’t read them immediately. Lucas kept staring at his phone for more than ten minutes, scrolling through Instagram and not so patiently waiting for an answer of the other boy.

 **lucallement:** thank you again for saving me and bringing me to this place, it was indeed very romantic ;)

An hour passed and Lucas grew kind of restless. He started to imagine things. He started to imagine Eliott not getting home safely after being shock. He started to imagine Eliott getting involved in a real accident.

 **lucallement:** eliott.

hey.

are you okay?

eliott, pls answer

are you at home?

Nothing. Simply… nothing. Lucas threw his phone over his bed and on the floor. If Eliott wanted to be angry with him, okay. He would give him time and space.

But only till tomorrow.

* * *

The first thing Lucas did was checking his phone in the morning. And what he found in his DM’s where not the texts he expected.

 **srodulv:** stop messaging me. this was all a dumb mistake.

Lucas stared at the screen, his eyes already hurting from the brightness this early in the morning.

 **srodulv:** our parents and this feud were right – stay away from me, it’s better for you.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”, said Lucas under his breath to himself, nearly jumping out of bed. He was tired of waiting for an answer, he wanted them _now._ He called Eliotts number, pacing around the room while waiting for him to pick up.

“Come on… Come on, Eliott. Don’t do this to me.”

But he did this to him.

And Lucas was confused. And angry.

He only started to develop feelings for Eliott, he only started to enjoy his life, thinking that he did a step in the right direction and then… that?

He called Eliott again.

“Eliott, if you think you can get away from me like that, then you’re wrong.” It was only the mailbox but it was better than nothing. “If you are angry with me because of what happened that night, then I can only apologize again. I am sorry and I was really worried about you. But to just… cancel me? This does not sound like you. This… this isn’t you.” Lucas was breathing heavily, still walking around in his room like a captured wild animal.

“If your parents have something to do with this, then tell me about it. We’ll figure something out. But please…” Lucas voice broke while he said those last words. “Please don’t shut me out like this. Please don’t let it end like this before it even started.”

In other circumstances, he would have laughed at himself for these cheesy words and this ridiculous speech. But Lucas felt something for Eliott, something really intense. They had a special kind of connection, after this night even more. And he didn’t want to lose it like this again.

He didn’t want to lose Eliott, the only human being who really seemed to understand him.

_How quickly things can change after some fateful moments._

Lucas waited for a call the whole day. He waited for a message the whole day. He waited for a fucking sign, _anything._ But there was nothing. Nothing at all. Eliott was not even in school and Lucas got this strange feeling inside of him. He was still worried about his health, maybe he was still in shock and didn’t know what else to do than rejecting Lucas.

_Maybe, maybe, maybe…_

“Lucas? Are you there?”

Yann was pulling him out of his thoughts, waving a hand in front of his eyes to catch his attention.

“What?”

Lucas shook his head slightly, he did not even get one thing of their conversation.

“You look tired”, pointed Arthur out and Lucas honestly felt super tired.

“You also look beautiful today, Arthur. Thank you for your compliment.”

“Oh, our little Lulu is in a mood”, said Basile and the other two boys were chuckling. Usually Lucas would play around with them now, mocking them and just retorting. But not today. He really was in a mood – in the mood to not foul around with his friends for once. His mind was occupied with something else. And when the ass-long day finally was over, there was only one person who Lucas wanted to see now. The only person who would surely help him.

He climbed into the bus which would bring him to the hospital.

* * *

“Hey Mum”, said Lucas quietly as he entered the room. His mum looked… good today. She was not pale and she didn’t look as sick as the last time he saw her. The last time, where she nearly died because of him. Lucas had to take a deep breath, calming himself down before he would break out into some kind of new panic attack.

“Hey, my love. How are you feeling?”

His mum was smiling at him and this was the point, where he couldn’t fake his smile anymore. He looked down, some hair falling into his eyes and he heard the shifting of his mum in her bed.

“Lucas… Hey, what’s wrong?”

And before he could think about it, he was seated next to his mum in her bed, his head buried in her shoulder.

“I am sorry, mum.”

“For what?”

His mum was soothing him, stroking his back lightly and Lucas felt himself relaxing in the embrace of his mum.

“For… for being the reason of your seizure.”

“Oh, forget about it, darling. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Lucas lifted his head and he could see that his mum was reading his expression in this moment.

“But there’s more, right? There _is_ something to worry about for you.”

His mum knew him sometimes better than Lucas knew himself. He didn’t know how to start the subject. The last time they had seen each other, Lucas cursed the Demaurys and especially Eliott. How should he tell his mum that he now was kind of… _in love_ with him? That he ended up falling in love with his enemy like his mum did too?

“Eliott and I kissed.”

The words just escaped his mouth. No background story, nothing about the way they screamed at each other, Eliott saving Lucas more than one time…

Just the most important part where everything changed.

His mum watched him.

“You fell in love with him?”

“No. I mean… Yes… I mean… I don’t know.” Lucas groaned and buried his head in his hands, pulling slightly on some strands of his hair.

“And actually, it doesn’t matter anymore. Because he said that I should stop contacting him.”

“And yet he kissed you.”

Lucas huffed a breath.

_And yet he kissed me._

“Tell me everything, Lulu.”

And so he did. He started from the beginning, not leaving out any little detail while talking now. He talked about their fights, about their intimate moments, about his brothers and his dad and the abandoned leisure park and their car accident. About everything. And it was so good to finally have someone to talk with. His mum didn’t ask questions; she only listened without any judgement at all and Lucas loved her more than ever in this moment.

“… and then I ran away and I know that it was wrong but I was so… afraid and shocked. It was selfish of me to think that Eliott didn’t feel the same…”

Lucas ended his retelling with these words and leaned back, his gaze fixed on the ceiling above him. From the corner of his eye, he could see his mum watching him and he eventually turned his head, looking at her. There was no judgement in her gaze, no questions – she just seemed to accept the fact that Lucas fell in love with his enemy. Well, maybe because she did the same. But there was something else…

“What is it, mum?”

“He didn’t tell you, right?”

Lucas frowned and sat up a bit in the bed next to his mum, looking at her with confusion in his gaze.

“Who didn’t tell me what?”

“Eliott. He didn’t tell you about his illness.”

Lucas stared at her, his mouth slightly open. This was apparently enough of an answer for his mum to continue talking.

“When I was… When Laurent and I…” She stopped and looked down as if she had to feel guilty for anything. Lucas now knew that feelings cannot be stopped and he wished that he would have known this sooner before treating his mum in the wrong way.

“Laurent and Eliott always had a good relationship before he went away from the city. He loved Eliott and cared deeply for him. And one day, he told me about Eliotts illness.”

“What fucking illness?”

Lucas was now staring at his mum but instead of answering, Mama Lallemant only shook her head and looked down on her hands for a moment.

“I’m not in the place to tell you more about it. You should hear it from Eliott himself. I only told you about this because it will maybe help you to… understand. To understand Eliott and the things he did and will maybe do. To understand that Eliott maybe said that he doesn’t want you in his life anymore but he maybe means something entirely different.” His mum turned to Lucas now, gently stroking a strand of his messy hair out of his eyes, smiling slightly.

“But let me tell you: Eliott hadn’t had an easy life till yet. And when he opened up to someone then it means something. Something really important and big. He did what he did because of many circumstances, many things he cannot control by himself.”

His mum was now cupping Lucas’ cheek with her hand, a tiny smile on her face.

“And you should be gentle to him. And to yourself”, she said quietly and kissed Lucas’ forehead. “Eliott is a good boy. As you are, my son. And I’m thanking god that fate brought you two together.”

Lucas’ head was spinning. Eliott was… ill? Didn’t Eliott think about how Lucas would maybe want to help Eliott, no matter what this illness was all about? He felt guilty; guilty for running away and for not staying to hear him out. For destroying something that didn’t even started yet.

“What are you going to do now, Lulu?”, asked his mum quietly after some seconds passed. Lucas took a deep breath and stood up, hugging his mum tightly.

“I will go and see him. I will tell him that we can do this together, no matter how hard it may be. And that I don’t care about some illness I know nothing about – that this doesn’t affect my feelings.”

Lucas was now laughing out quietly.

“I never thought that I would ever say this about Eliott Demaury. I sound like an idiot.”

His mum was smiling, tears shimmering in her eyes which couldn’t be seen by Lucas.

“No. You sound like a young man who has grown up so much in the last weeks and I am so proud of you, my baby.”

Lucas smiled a bit. “I love you, mum”, he whispered quietly and kissed her cheek. Mama Lallemant held her son tightly for one more second.

“And thank you”, said Lucas while slowly letting go of her.

His mum was smiling, a tear now running down her cheek, visible for Lucas too.

“No”, she said quietly, her voice soft and broken from all the emotions inside of her. “Thank you, my wonderful and brave son. Thank you for taking a step in the right direction to end all of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONG LIVE MAMA LALLEMANT


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else

When Lucas came home, the first thing he did was opening Instagram and the chat between him and Eliott. He was worried about the other boy, worried about his illness and he wanted to know more about it. But in the first place, he wanted Eliott to know that he was not alone. The anger he felt towards Eliott for pushing Lucas away was gone completely and now he only felt… worry. And more tender feelings for the tall, mysterious Demaury.

 **lucallement:** hey, eliott.

Lucas didn’t know how to start. He just keeps staring at the message, not knowing how to continue and how to let Eliott know that Lucas isn’t leaving so soon.

 **lucallement:** I am sorry. Again. I won’t stop saying it. And I think that I understand now. At least a tiny bit.

Lucas sighed deeply, banging his head on the board behind his bed.

 **lucallement:** you probably have no clue what I am talking about and tbh I don’t have either. But I just want to let you know that you can take your time. That I’ll wait.

 **lucallement:** but if you think I’m leaving you alone just now, just after everything that happened, then you got some wrong information, monsieur.

 **lucallement:** I won’t give up till we talk about this and till we’ll find a way.

 **lucallement:** and I just hope that you haven’t given up on us yet.

Lucas closed the app and leaned back. He knew that Eliott will probably read them in some minutes and he also knew that he rambled again, not really knowing what to say or what to do. But he didn’t want to lose Eliott only because the other boy thought it would be better for Lucas to be without Eliott. Because it wouldn’t be better. Only because of Eliott, Lucas changed wholly for the best. Only because of Eliott, he finally stopped hating and started loving. Only because of Eliott, he started to be brave.

And because Eliott helped him so much to become a better person, Lucas would be there for him, no matter what this illness was about.

* * *

 

A week passed. And all Lucas got from Eliott was the notification that the other boy read the messages. He was never not thinking about Eliott who was not in school this whole week. He asked himself, if Eliott was okay. If he should just… go and break into his house, checking on him. He never was this worried before and it kind of scared him, these intense emotions unusual to Lucas.

Lucas was currently staring at his phone again while waiting for the other boys on the courtyard, Yann coming up next to him without Lucas realizing this. If Lucas would maybe stare at the messages long enough, he would get an answer eventually.

“You are writing with Eliott?”

Lucas nearly jumped at Yann’s throat as he suddenly was standing next to him, putting his phone away as quickly as he could and hiding the messages between him and Eliott this way.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, said Lucas, trying to sound convincingly. But Yann raising his eyebrow at him made Lucas realize, that he maybe was everything but not convincing, not even a tiny bit.

“Lucas, since when have we started to lie to each other?”, asked Yann quietly, something like pain in his voice. And Yann was right – there were never lies between the two of them, only complete honesty. Till Eliott happened. Till Lucas’ life changed.

“I am sorry, life is just complicated and my mum…”

“This is not about your mum, Lucas.”

Lucas looked up at Yann as he suddenly interrupted him. Yann was watching him, getting a prove from Lucas’ surprised reaction that this was definitely not about his mum.

“Does this have something to do with Eliott? Is that why you are writing with him?”, started Yann carefully, still looking at Lucas. “Is this why you have been so absent minded these last days? Because something… happened between you and Eliott?”

Lucas started to run his fingers through his hair, biting the inside of his cheek as he always did when he was nervous. He started to pace around, Yann and Lucas being nearly the only people on this courtyard and Lucas was grateful for that. He didn’t want the others to see him in such a weak situation. He never allowed himself to be weak.

“Lucas. Talk with me.”

Yann laid a hand on Lucas’ shoulder and suddenly, everything Lucas wanted was to tell someone about all of this. To tell Yann about his little secret named Eliott and to get advice from his best friend.

“Eliott and I… I don’t know what happened, but we got closer. And closer. And then we kissed. And now he won’t respond because I was acting like shit but he was acting… strange and…”

Lucas realized that nothing of what he just said made any sense, but Yann didn’t ask any questions. He just nodded and watched Lucas.

“And now… Now I don’t know what to do anymore. Eliott… He is wonderful. Everything my parents said was stupid. Everything about this feud is stupid and how it determines the course of two whole families. And Eliott changed me. Changed my point of view. And now I’m losing him again, because I was stupid, like I always am and—”

“Hey.”

Lucas was breathing heavily by now, his eyes burning strangely and he looked up to Yann.

“Stop. Stop this. You are not stupid. And Eliott seemed to realize that too because otherwise he wouldn’t have fallen for you.”

“I know, but—”

“Eliott is most likely afraid. Afraid of the future and afraid of what will happen.”

Lucas wouldn’t mention Eliott’s illness but Yann seemed to understand the situation nevertheless.

“Give him time. And space. Give him some time to think and some time to come back to you. If he took all these steps towards you, if he took all these risks to be with you, then he wouldn’t just… back down again, don’t you think so?”

Lucas was looking at Yann and nodding. His best friend was right. And it was also right to tell him about Eliott and his feelings. It was stupid to think that Yann would judge him because he never did a thing like this before. But when everyone expected you to hate someone, then you wanted to fulfill this expectation. But Lucas was tired of doing things people expected him to do.

“You are right. I’m just… scared, I think.”

“And that’s okay, Lucas. Everyone is scared from time to time. This is just natural.”

“But… But I’m not allowed to. I need to be strong.”

“You are. Don’t you ever think differently.”

Yann was now staring into Lucas’ eyes and Lucas couldn’t hide a tiny smile which was spreading on his lips now.

“Okay?”, asked Yann quietly and laid an arm around Lucas’ shoulder.

“Okay.”

“And now… let’s get some food and you tell me all about that cute little love story of yours.” Yann was grinning now, pulling Lucas’ into the direction of the school gate. Lucas was smirking now, laying his arm around Yann too.

“This is no little, cute love story.”

“Well, I also like dramatic love stories, I don’t care.”

And now, Lucas was laughing. Yann always knew how to cheer him up and Lucas loved him even more for that – no judgement, no questions. Just advice and some words to make Lucas smile again.

He made a lot of wrong decisions in his life.

But for once, he made the right decision.

* * *

 

Lucas’ mood was way better when he came home again. He had a great time with Yann and for once, his thoughts weren’t occupied with Eliott at every second. But as soon as he was alone, his thoughts drifted to Eliott again, wondering what he was doing and _how_ he was doing.

Lucas was going through the mail while closing the door behind him with his hip, not really paying attention to the letters and bills. But one letter caught his attention. There was only his name written on it, no sender on the background. He frowned and let himself fall down on the couch, slowly opening the letter. And suddenly, he was drowning in papers. At least two dozens of drawings were slowly filling his lap.

Lucas picked one of them up, looking at two people in a dark alley, one of them holding his hand out to the other who was on the ground.

Lucas knew this style of drawing.

Lucas knew this situation.

His heart skipped a beat.

He took up another drawing. This time, it showed two people next to a ferris wheel, standing close to each other. And although they had no faces, Lucas could tell that the two of them were looking at each other.

All the other drawings showed similar images: Two people involved in a situation together and Lucas was shaking as he was taking up the last drawing on his lap.

This time, it was only one person. The faceless human was standing in front of a door, holding up his hand, ready to knock.

But the knock on the door would never come.

Lucas was jumping up from the couch, the drawings falling to the ground and he was careful as he was running to the door not to step on the papers filled with memories and emotions.

Eliott did these drawings. And it were drawings of every situation they had been in. Every encounter between them, good or bad. Eliott drew all of them over all this time and now… now he was giving them to Lucas. And Lucas was seeing this as some kind of sign. As a sign for him to finally go over to Eliott and talk to him. Apparently he also tried to reach out to Lucas, judging by the last of his drawings. But Eliott seemed afraid. As Lucas was too.

But if Eliott taught him one thing, than it was how to be brave.

And if Lucas didn’t want to lose Eliott, then he had to be brave now.

* * *

 

“Eliott. It’s me.”

Lucas had been knocking on the door for almost five minutes straight. He didn’t care if his parents were home. He didn’t care if the neighbors saw them. He did only care about Eliott and to get things right again between them, to let him know that he is not alone. That Lucas will not run away again.

“Eliott, I know that you’re there. I can see your car in front of your house.”

Lucas’ knocking was getting weaker, his hand already hurting and he was now laying his forehead against the door in front of him.

“Please… Eliott, I only want to talk with you.”

And suddenly the door in front of him was giving away and Lucas was stumbling inside of Eliott’s house.

“Eliott”, he breathed quietly and as he looked up, his breath caught in his throat.

Eliott looked terrible.

The bags under his eyes were a deep purple, his face was pale and his messy hair was even messier than usual as if he had been driving his hands through it way too often. Lucas was not sure, but he also seemed to be thinner. And Lucas could just stare at him for some moments, the worry inside of him nearly killing him.

“What are you doing here”, asked Eliott quietly, tiredly and Lucas just wanted to shake him in this moment or to hug him as tightly as he could, soothing him and telling him that everything was going to be okay.

“What… What am I doing here?”, asked Lucas kind of confused, frowning. “I am worried as fuck about you. I… I want to talk with you.”

Lucas was taking a step towards Eliott, laying a hand on his arm. He so desperately wanted to touch him, to make sure that he was going to be okay again.

“And I missed you. I am sorry for reacting like an idiot.”

Eliott just looked down at Lucas, showing no reaction at all.

“I nearly killed you”, said Eliott quietly, his voice breaking at the end of it.

“But you didn’t”, said Lucas quickly and was now taking Eliott’s hand. The other boy wanted to withdraw from him but Lucas only held his hand tighter. Because he wouldn’t let go of him, not now, not anymore.

“It could happen again.”

“But maybe it never happens again.”

“Lucas, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I—”

“My mum told me.”

Eliott stilled and for the first time during this conversation, Eliott showed some kind of emotion. Confusion. His brows furrowed.

“What?”

“My mum told me. About your illness. Nothing explicitly, she wanted me to ask you about it”, said Lucas and before Eliott could react, he continued. “But this made me realize even more how wrong I reacted. I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have run away, letting you alone there in the middle of the night. It was wrong of me and I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone, Eliott.”

Lucas was now taking Eliott’s other hand too.

“You’re not alone. We can do this together. We can fight this feud, as you always told me we would. And now I can finally see it happening too.”

Eliott was staring at Lucas for some silent moments, his eyes shimmering with tears in them. Lucas could now watch all the emotions on Eliott’s face – he saw fear, confusion. But also love and thankfulness and… hope. But suddenly, Eliott was wearing that mask again, the emotions disappearing under some kind of façade.

“Your mum told you about my illness?”

Lucas was blinking. This was not the reaction he expected.

“I… Yes, but—”

“She shouldn’t have told you about it.”

“Eliott—”

“This makes no sense, Lucas.”

Eliott was pulling his hands away from Lucas and Lucas was standing there, his hands still in the position Eliott left them and felt… empty.

Eliott turned around and walked into the living room. But when he thought that this would stop Lucas from coming after him, he was very mistaken.

“What makes no sense?”

“This”, said Eliott while being with his back to Lucas. He stretched his arms out, involving his whole surroundings with this gesture.

“All of this. I shouldn’t have gone this far. I should have stayed away from you, like it was my plan all along. It was a mistake from me to think that we could achieve something in this feud, that we could end it.”

Lucas was storming after Eliott, laying a hand on his shoulder and turning him around.

“Do you even hear what you’re talking about? YOU were the one who even made me think about this. YOU were the one who… who pulled me into this and now I’ve fallen for you, ready to risk a lot and –"

“Lucas, we can _never_ be together. It was foolish of me to think so. Your parents and mine would rather see us dead than being together. It was foolish of me to drag you into something so big and it was foolish of me—”

“Eliott, shut the fuck up!”

Lucas was now screaming at him, his hands clenching into fists, his fingernails digging into the soft flesh of his palms. Eliott was staring at him, a shocked look on his face as he looked down on Lucas. Lucas might be small but he was not weak or shy.

“I know that you might think that I am better without you”, said Lucas now a little breathless from their heated conversation. “But this is _not_ the case. You made me realize how wrong my life has been till now – how wrong this hate towards you and your family was. You made me realize that love is better than hate.” Lucas was looking into Eliott’s eyes, not being able to even think about losing Eliott like this. He would fight for him and for this.

“I just came to the realization that we can really change something about this feud, that we could end it. And now you… you want to end it like this?” Lucas could feel something burning in his eyes and he suddenly felt something wet on his cheeks.

“I don’t want it to end like this. We can do this, Eliott. You and I. If not we, who then?”

Eliott was watching Lucas, something softening in his gaze and his shoulders were slightly shaking.

“You deserve better”, Eliott suddenly whispered and Lucas stared at him for some seconds.

“No”, Lucas whispered. “ _You_ deserve better.”

And with that, the two of them collided like stars, their lips crushing together.

This was not like the soft kiss they shared at the leisure park. This was more. This was more intense, more passionate. They were like a thunderstorm after a long, long summer, finally bringing relief to the whole world.

To their whole world.

They were both getting rid of their clothes quickly, Eliott pressing Lucas’ against the wall and stroking his skin carefully, as if he could do something wrong. But Lucas couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t get enough from the taste of Eliott’s lips, from the way his skin felt on his fingertips, from Eliott’s body pressed against his own. Lucas’ heart was racing and there was only three words echoing through his mind the whole time.

_This is right, this is right, this is right, this is right._

Eliott picked Lucas up bridal style and carried him to his bed. Lucas was nervous and excited but most of all, he was in love. He was in love with Eliott who laid him carefully on the bed, kneeling over him, looking into his eyes.

“Your blue eyes were the first thing I saw when I entered that classroom”, whispered Eliott quietly and Lucas could do nothing else but stare at the most beautiful boy he’s ever seen.

“And my life changed in that moment.”

“Mine too”, answered Lucas while pulling Eliott down till their lips were only some inches apart. “I just didn’t knew it back then.”

But now he knew it.

And now he didn’t want it to be any other way.

And as Eliott kissed him again, everything around them seemed to fade away, only the two of them counting right there and then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *clears throat* I hope you guys are happy now


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas was woken up by the sun shining on his face. He stretched a bit, the fabric of the bedsheets caressing his skin. He turned around, snuggling into the blanket and the pillow beside him.

The empty pillow beside him.

Lucas slowly opened his eyes, blinking against the bright sunlight. He needed some seconds to gather his thoughts, to recall what happened and to recognize where he even was. He hadn’t seen this room by daylight, only in the dim hours before dawn turned into night. And suddenly a smile spread on his face.

_Eliott._

Eliott happened.

Lucas buried his face in the empty pillow beside him, grinning as the scent from Eliott wrapped itself around him.

Lucas never felt so many things and emotions in one night. And he shivered, thinking about Eliott’s hands on his body and his kisses on every part of his skin. They haven’t really talked about everything, but this night was like a promise: They could make it. And they would. Lucas wouldn’t let go of Eliott, not after this night, not after their whispered words in the darkness.

Just then, the realization that Eliott was actually _not_ beside him hit him. And suddenly, all the warm feelings inside of Lucas disappeared and some kind of panic rose inside him. Eliott didn’t left him. He surely was somewhere in this big house, doing breakfast or something like that. He would not… run away again. Lucas made it clear that he won’t leave Eliott alone anymore and he would hold his promise, if Eliott wanted or not.

Suddenly, Lucas heard something in the garden. He frowned and stood up, putting on his underwear and Eliott’s hoodie. He walked to the window, his feet naked and his hair messy as always. He pulled the yellow curtain aside, looking out into the garden and his heart skipped a bit.

All the panic faded away as he saw Eliott crouching in front of a tall hedge. He was only wearing his underwear too, apparently looking at something very interesting in or on the hedge.

Eliott didn’t run away.

He was still there and he wouldn’t leave.

_Stop panicking, Lucas. Everything is okay._

Lucas was faster downstairs than he expected him and walked out in the garden, the grass under his naked feet tickling him, the sun warming his bare legs. The garden from the Demaurys was _huge_. Even bigger than Lucas’ own and his garden was already nearly a whole park. But Lucas had no interest in looking at the beautiful flowers or the tall trees. He only had eyes for the tall boy, kneeling on the grass, his arms outstretched in front of him.

“What are you actually doing here?”, asked Lucas while laughing quietly, slowly approaching him.

Eliott looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he took in the other boy. Something like realization could be seen on Eliott’s face, his eyes drifting to Lucas’ messy hair before looking back to the hedge in front of him again.

“Lucas! Come here, quickly!”

Lucas frowned and was next to Eliott in two strides.

“What is it? Did something happen? Are you okay?”

Lucas was immediately worried, maybe his illness affected him in some kind of way Lucas couldn’t see. But Eliott shook is head, Lucas taking a deep breath.

“Look. Look, who I found.”

Lucas crouched down next to Eliott, squinting his eyes in the direction where Eliott pointed. And then Lucas saw it – a little hedgehog was stuck in the fence behind the hedge, desperately trying to get out of there.

“We need to help him”, said Lucas quietly, his heart breaking for the little animal.

Eliott nodded, kissing Lucas’ cheek casually. Lucas blushed – this was so normal, like a teenager relationship should be. He pushed the thoughts of their still ongoing feud aside, only caring and living for the here and now.

Eliott was now stretching out his arms, slowly and very carefully wrapping his fingers around the hedgehog, trying not the hurt the animal and himself. He pulled slightly on the body of the little creature, freeing him in this way and getting him out of danger. Lucas and Eliott simultaneously started to smile, Eliott setting down the little guy in front of them and turning his head to Lucas. Lucas was still looking at the hedgehog, driving a hand through his hair absentminded.

“You know what?”, Eliott suddenly said quietly, both of them still in their happy and little space where they just saved a life.

“Hm?”

Lucas now looked at Eliott, being surprised how much he felt for the other boy. How his heart started to race whenever Eliott looked into Lucas’ soul with these beautiful eyes and—

“This hedgehog looks like you.”

Lucas stared at him, not quite believing if he understood him right.

“What the actually…”

“No, Lucas! Look.”

Eliott was now beaming, the little animal in front of them still too afraid to move away.

“The spikes look exactly like your hair”, said Eliott, grinning like a little boy. He touched Lucas’ hair, taking a strand of Lucas’ messy hair and slightly pulling on it. “They are sticking out the same way the spikes from the hedgehog stick out.”

Lucas couldn’t help himself. He burst into laughter.

“Are you really comparing me to a… hedgehog?”

“These guys are cute! Look at their tiny noses”, Eliott protested, joining into Lucas’ laughter. The hedgehog now had enough, disappearing into the hedge and Eliott made some sound of disapproving.

“You scared him. You scared Lucas, the hedgehog.”

“Lucas the hedgehog? Are you for real?” Lucas laughed, raising his eyebrows at Eliott who was pulling Lucas into his arms now while still laughing. It was music in Lucas’ ears. They were falling back to the ground together, laying in the grass now. Lucas was hovering over Eliott while Eliott started to play with Lucas’ hair, both of them grinning the whole time.

“I’m only gonna call you little hedgehog from now on.”

“No fucking way.”

“You will not stop me”, Eliott said while wriggling his eyebrows at Lucas and if Lucas wouldn’t be in love already, he would be by now.

“Oh, dear god. Just promise me that you won’t use this nickname in front of people.”

“I’m gonna shout it from the rooftop”, Eliott said, laying his head back into the grass, looking up into the sky.

“LUCAS LALLEMANT IS MY HEDGEHOG!”, screamed Eliott suddenly and Lucas stared at him, his mouth open while he tried not to laugh out loud. The whole neighborhood must have heard this and there were times where Lucas would care about this.

But these times were over.

Eliott started to breath in again, ready to scream these words into the world again, but Lucas’ laid his hand over Eliott’s mouth, silencing him in this way.

“Oh my fucking god, Eliott. Are you crazy?”

Lucas laughed but he stilled, when he saw the light fading from Eliott’s eyes.

And just then he realized what he said.

“Eliott…”

Lucas was sitting up, driving his hands through his hair. He felt shame inside of him, turning his cheeks red.

“I am sorry. I… I didn’t—”

“Forget it, Lucas. You didn’t mean it that way.”

Lucas only nodded but he felt guilty for saying these words nevertheless. There were some moments of silence between them, the light and peaceful situation destroyed by Lucas again.

“Lucas… I wanted to tell you… about my illness. I really wanted to”

Lucas played with a blade of grass, his thoughts swirling around, as Eliott suddenly addressed him. He didn’t expect him to break the silence this soon, especially not with this subject. Lucas would lie if he would say that he hadn’t thought about Eliott’s illness and what all of this was about. But he swore himself not to push Eliott, not to interrogate him. If Eliott wanted to talk, then he would.

And now was apparently the time.

“It’s okay, Eliott. Really.”

“No, it’s not. Just… let me explain it to you”, said Eliott quietly, looking down on his hands as if being afraid to look into Lucas’ eyes while telling his story. “I can be… dangerous. Dangerous for myself and for my surroundings. Dangerous for people… that I love.” Eliott was now looking up, Lucas feeling some kind of warmth rising inside of him.

“It’s a personality disorder. My moods change rapidly, I tend to say and do things without me even realizing what I do or what I say. I have days, where everything is okay. Like today.”

Lucas was now taking Eliott’s hands, the other boy having really cold hands. He was nervous.

“But then… then, there are days, where everything sucks. Where I cannot do anything. Where getting up is even too much. Where existing is even too much.”

Eliott’s eyes suddenly where wet and Lucas’ heart broke for Eliott.

“I… I know. This sounds like hell on earth. And I am sorry for not telling you about it. It was selfish of me. Selfish to hide this only because I thought… I thought that I would lose you to 100 percent when I would tell you about it.”

“But I am still here”, said Lucas quietly, a tear rolling down Eliott’s cheek.

“I am still here. And you… you were the best thing that could have happened to me. And if your selfish self hadn’t insisted on approaching me again and again and again while my stupid self was always rejecting you, I wouldn’t be who I am now. I wouldn’t be ready to fight my whole family. I wouldn’t be ready to fight for you. And now I am here – in your garden after saving a little hedgehog.”

Eliott’s lips where now forming into a tiny smile.

“And if we could save this little creature – then we can also save our lives and the lives of future generations. And if you think that I deserve better… Then you’re mistaken, Eliott.”

Lucas was brushing the tear away who was leaving a wet trace on Eliott’s beautiful face.

“You have bad days? Okay. But as you mentioned, you also have good days. And we will live these good days, every hour, minute and second. We will make the best out of it.”

Lucas laid his forehead against Eliott’s, closing his eyes for a second.

“You are not alone, Eliott. You never were and you never will be.”

Eliott was now wrapping his arms around Lucas, pulling him close. He snuggled his face into Lucas’ neck and Lucas was smiling, happily and content with his life after a long time of not being able to look into a brighter future.

They could do everything.

Together.

Lucas didn’t know how and he didn’t know when – but he there was one thing he knew: Eliott was worth it.

“And if you scream at me, then I will just… scream back.”

Lucas was grinning and finally, _finally_ he could feel Eliott laughing, his breath tickling the soft skin on Lucas’ neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to my mec aka @sharetheskamlove for this cute idea!!
> 
> also: enjoy the fluff!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas was in love.

And he lived for that feeling.

“You need to be quiet”, whispered Lucas and chuckled quietly, as Eliott was just trying to fit his tall body through Lucas’ window. They had been sneaking into each other’s houses for the past days, mostly Lucas into Eliott’s house. But when Eliott heard about Lucas’ father being at home, Lucas alone with him, he didn’t spend another second at home and went over to Lucas.

“I’m trying my best, your window is just so damn tiny”, answered Eliott with a hushed voice while finally plopping into Lucas’ room.

They were in each other’s arms as if they had been departed for years when in reality it were only a little more than 24 hours.

The last days had been like a dream – Eliott and Lucas getting closer and closer with every passing hour and Lucas finally allowed himself to be… himself. To be real. He didn’t fake anything while being with Eliott and it felt like he could breathe again after being under water for a long, long time. Lucas was still surprised by how much he already longed for Eliott after a short period of time, how _addicted_ you could get to a human.

But Eliott was Lucas’ favorite drug.

“How are you? Did he hurt you?”, asked Eliott quietly, kissing Lucas’ head softly while holding him. Lucas snuggled into Eliott’s arms and closed his eyes, breathing him in.

“No, I didn’t get out of the room since hours.”

“Good.”

Lucas smiled a bit and looked up to his taller boy.

“Are you going to defend me, my noble knight?”

Eliott laughed and kissed Lucas’ nose, the younger boy giggling at this natural gesture.

“Of course, I will! You saw that I could break noses. I can also break other things.”

“Oh, I would love to see that”, said Lucas with a smirk and laid his head back, looking at Eliott with sultry eyes.

“Come here, I’m going to protect you.” Eliott grinned and pulled Lucas more into his arms, both of them stumbling back on the bed at that movement.

And here and now, Lucas was happy. Utterly happy. And all of that thanks to his actual enemy who hadn’t let him go, who hadn’t accepted the fate and twisted it.

* * *

His friends realized that something happened with Lucas. That his eyes were glowing again, his smile brighter. And whenever he spotted a certain person at school, his cheeks were tinted in a deep red. His friends mocked him for this “stranger” who made Lucas react like that. Every time, Lucas spotted Eliott on the court yard, he turned around to look at someone else, so his friends would never see that it was Eliott who made his heart beat faster.

Only Yann knew about all of this.

And every single time Lucas blushed, Yann was grinning from one ear to the other.

They hadn’t talked properly after their conversation one week ago, but Lucas told Yann that everything was good. That they would find a way to make everything work. But for now, Eliott and Lucas kept their relationship a secret. Lucas already reached a point where he wanted to shout his affection for Eliott from every rooftop but that had to wait.

There would always be a time and place for it.

“Where are we going this weekend?”, asked Basile as all of them were walking to the bus station.

“Is there a party going on?”

“There is always a party going on, Arthur”, answered Yann and all of them were laughing. Lucas’ phone made a ringing sound, announcing a new message. He fished his phone out of his pocket, the conversation between his friends shifting into the background.

He frowned as he saw the anonymous number.

Lucas fell a bit back, walking behind the group of his friends now, opening the message.

_If you want to know something about your beloved Eliott, you should meet me tomorrow at 5pm in the park behind your street._

Lucas stopped in his tracks, rereading the message again and again.

Thousand questions were roaming through his mind.

_How did they get my number?_

_What do they know?_

_How can they know about my relationship to Eliott?_

_And—_

“Lucas?”

Lucas looked up, the sounds rushing in all at once again, his heart still beating frantically loud in his ears.

Yann was coming towards him, looking at him seriously and with worry in his eyes.

“Are you okay? You’ve gone pale.”

Lucas took a deep breath and gave a tiny nod.

“I’m… I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

Lucas nodded again.

“Don’t worry, I’m okay”, Lucas said while forcing a tiny smile. “Really.”

His friend always knew when something was wrong and they actually agreed on not having any more secrets. But this was something Lucas had to figure out on his own, he already dragged Yann too much into this.

And Lucas was not sure how all of that would end.

He only knew that he had to meet this stranger tomorrow, making clear that he couldn’t give a lesser damn about any rumor which was told about Eliott.

* * *

Lucas was nervous as he walked from his house towards the park in their neighbor street. He didn’t know what he should expect, he didn’t know who to find there. Lucas told Eliott nothing about this meeting, this would only raise unnecessary worries.

It was already starting to get dark as Lucas entered the park, only a few people roaming around. He walked slowly, his hands in the pocket of his jacket, looking around for any face or anyone approaching him. Suddenly, he saw something in the corner of his eyes. Something like a light… Lucas frowned and walked into that direction, sure that this was some kind of sign for him.

As Lucas rounded a tree, he froze in his tracks.

No.

“You”, he snarled and started to take a step back, suddenly having the tree at his back. His opposite started to smile, a smile which looked so familiar to Eliott’s and was so different yet.

“Good evening, Monsieur Lallemant”, said Paul, Eliott’s oldest brother. Lucas had seen him before in the media. Eliott told Lucas that he had a good connection to his siblings, especially Paul. But Lucas always knew that Paul was playing some kind of game, only using his little and good brother Eliott for his advantage.

“What is all of this about?”, asked Lucas with a dead-calm voice, something like panic spreading in his body.

_This is not good. Not good at all._

“I just want to tell you something about my brother. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Paul was spreading his arms innocently. But Lucas knew better than to trust this innocent gesture.

“I don’t think that I care about anything you have to say about Eliott.”

“Oh, are you sure about that?”

Lucas went silent, looking at Paul. He was thinking: He could either run away and always wonder about what Paul wanted to tell him, or he could stay, listen to him, and forget about all of this bullshit which was going to be spilled out of Paul’s mouth soon enough.

“Well then, go ahead. Nothing you will tell me about Eliott will change my opinion about him.”

Paul apparently knew about their relationship and it made Lucas even more anxious. Maybe Eliott told Paul about them, being all excited and happy that they finally found a way to end this feud and for Eliott to feel loved and happy. Maybe Eliott trusted his brother too much.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why Eliott came of all schools to yours?”

Lucas frowned.

“Because his parents wanted him to have the best education possible. Because his parents wanted him to be in a direct competition with me.”

Paul laughed out, crossing his arms while coming closer to Lucas. Lucas felt the sudden urge to flee, but he held his ground.

“Oh, Lucas. Are you really that stupid? I actually thought of you as a clever boy.”

Lucas was starting to breath heavily, his hands curling into fists.

“No, Lucas. This is not the reason why Eliott was sent to your school”, continue Paul, now standing closely in front of Lucas.

Paul looked into his eyes, his lips forming into an even brighter smile and Lucas felt sick.

“He was supposed to spy on you. And that is what he did.”

Lucas’ world suddenly stopped to spin for a second.

_No._

“You are lying”, hissed Lucas while his whole body started to tremble involuntarily.

“Why should I lie about this? And how should I then know about your mother being in hospital? How should I then know that your father nearly beat her to—”

“SHUT UP!”, screamed Lucas and his fist connected with Paul’s jaw before he could even think. Eliott’s brother stumbled back, holding his face with one hand, still wearing that smile which made Lucas shiver with disgust.

“Eliott told us everything. And he still does. You are _nothing_ to him. Just some figure in a big game.”

Lucas felt something burning in his eyes and his lip quivered.

_Betrayed. Betrayed. Betrayed._

“Well, it seems that your opinion about Eliott may have changed after all.”

“Shut up”, Lucas whispered again.

“We all hate you and your rotten family. Did you really thought that—”

“Shut the _fuck_ up or I swear to god.”

Lucas was losing control. He realized how everything seemed to shift around him, how everything he knew, everything he learned in the past weeks, everything that happened was a lie. He was breathing fast, looking around himself as if he didn’t recognize the world around him anymore.

Which was the case.

Everything Eliott did and said was a lie.

Lucas was being used.

Used to the advantage of the Demaurys.

_And I was really so dumb to trust Eliott._

He could punch himself in the gut right there and then.

Paul was coming towards him again, his lips were moving but Lucas couldn’t understand a word. He was captured in pictures of his mind, memories of the passing days and hours where he talked and talked with Eliott and was opening up to him, telling him _everything_ about himself and—

He needed to get out of here. Away from Paul. Away from everything connected with Eliott.

And before he could think of doing something else, he was running. Running so fast that his lungs were on fire after some seconds.

But he didn’t care.

The physical pain was very welcome and nothing compared to his broken heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you all will forgive me for this one day


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else

Eliott had been calling Lucas for numerous times by now and he stopped counting the messages he already sent. It was nearly 9pm now and Lucas had shown no reaction to Eliott trying to contact him and Eliott started to get worried.

He was still looking at the phone in his hand, waiting for Lucas to come online or to call back, as he walked into the hallway, pulling on his jacket while doing so.

“Come on, Lucas”, he silently whispered, so his parents wouldn’t know where Eliott was heading so late. Suddenly, the door in front of him opened and Eliott stumbled back, not knowing who would enter their house at this time. But he started to smile as he saw his brother Paul.

“Hey! I didn’t know you where coming over”, said Eliott while hugging his brother.

“I had a meeting in this area and I thought: why not visiting my favorite brother then?”

“That is really kind of you, but I’m meeting up with someone too, now. So, if you excuse me…”

Eliott was just about to head out of the door as his brother was stepping into his way, looking straight at him.

“Are you going to visit Lucas?”

Everything in Eliott froze his brother started to smile. Eliott hadn’t told him about their relationship. He considered telling him, of course. He wanted to share the happiness he felt whenever he was with Lucas with the whole world and he could trust his brother.

_Are you sure about that?_

“How—”

“I have my sources. And I don’t think that Lucas wants to see you now. Or tomorrow. Or at all.”

Eliott was staring at his brother, some really, _really_ bad feeling manifesting itself in him. He felt like something slipped away from him, the words from Paul having a strong effect on Eliott.

“Why… Why do you say that?”

“I talked with Lucas.”

_No._

Eliott could feel his temper rising. He could see that his brother was proud of himself for whatever he did. And Eliott did not like this look on Paul.

“What have you done?”, whispered Eliott, his hands starting to shake slightly.

“Only the right thing. You forgot about uncle Laurent? I didn’t want you to end like him so I only corrected your mistake of starting something with a Lallemant.”

Anger was boiling inside of Eliott and for the first time, he saw what his brother really was: A cruel person, only caring about his own advantage and reputation.

“What have you done, Paul?”, repeated Eliott with clenched teeth, his heart racing and his thoughts running to Lucas all the time.

“I told him the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That you only came to his school to spy on him.”

Eliott held his breath, the hurt face from Lucas shifting into his mind as Paul told him this lie.

“You fucking lied, Paul. I never spied on him, I told you _nothing_ about Lucas or his family and I never will”, hissed Eliott so his parents wouldn’t hear their conversation. “You lied and you destroyed the only important thing in my life with that.”

“Oh, stop acting like you’re really in love with that loser.”

Eliott’s fist connected with Paul’s jaw before he could think of anything else. He was so angry, so furious. Paul didn’t understand the connection Eliott and Lucas had, he never would and by saying this bullshit, Paul took Eliott’s only happiness away from him.

“I should’ve never trusted you in the first place. Now I can finally see your real face”, Eliott whispered and pushed his way past him, slamming the door behind him and running on the street. His heart was racing and he was on the edge of a panic attack, everything blurring around him as he pulled out his phone and called Lucas for the thousandth time.

“Lucas, if you hear this, please call me. My brother… he lied. Please, you need to believe me.”

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

Eliott was running his shaky hands through his hair, walking down the street as fast as he could and stopping in front of Lucas’ house. No one was home. Or Lucas was hiding. Eliott couldn’t tell.

 **srodulv:** Lucas.

 **srodulv:** Please, call me.

 **srodulv:** what my brother said was wrong. I never spied on you. I was supposed to but I couldn’t. you cannot believe him more than me.

Lucas wasn’t coming online. He didn’t read a single message.

Eliott was pacing in front of Lucas’ house, the phone in his hand shaking so much that he couldn’t even type properly.

 **srodulv:** lucas.

 **srodulv:** I would nevr lie to you. Pls. my brither said bullshit to bring us aprt.

 **srodulv:** lucs for gods skae

But Lucas didn’t read the messages. He didn’t call back.

_I fucked up. It’s over._

And Eliott stopped trying to hold his tears back.

* * *

Lucas was tired.

He forgot how it was to sleep alone.

How it was not be embraced by a warm body next to you.

How it was to be separated from Eliott.

And it hurt him.

His mum was at home for some days and Lucas was really thankful for that, but he did not even wanted to talk with her. Lucas was getting all the calls from Eliott, all the messages, but he chose to ignore them. He didn’t want to hear what Eliott had to say. He didn’t want to listen to him trying to find excuses. Usually he wouldn’t trust Paul so quickly, he would hear out Eliott. But how should Paul know about his mother and his father without Eliott telling him exactly that?

Lucas felt used and alone and even breathing hurt.

He was just starting to get really happy, having finally hope and a joy named Eliott in his life. But it was too good to be true. Everything around Lucas was damned to be shattered.

“Lucas, what is wrong with you?”

Lucas snapped out of staring at the wall in front of him as Yann sat down next to him. He looked at his best friend with red and tired eyes from not sleeping the past days.

“Everything’s fine”, lied Lucas without any emotion in his voice.

“No, it’s not. Stop pretending.”

Yann was watching his best friend, his voice firm, allowing no contradiction.

“This is about Eliott, right?”, said Yann after some moments passed in silence. And now Lucas couldn’t hold it back anymore. He collapsed in himself, his shoulders hanging down. He laid his head in his hands, trying to hold back the tears which were making their way into his eyes, burning like hell fire itself.

“Lucas…”

“He lied to me. He used me for his advantage. Everything was a lie.”

The words just kept coming out of Lucas’ mouth, he couldn’t stop them anymore.

“He spied on me, Yann. He spied on me, that’s the reason why he came to this school. And he allured me, only finding out information to harm me and my mother and…”

Lucas took a shaky breath and shook his head, still shocked by all of this. He lifted his head, looking at Yann with tears in his eyes and a heavy heart in his chest.

“I thought this was real”, Lucas whispered nearly breathless. “I thought I would finally be happy and I thought that we… we could make it together. That I finally were where I was supposed to be.”

Yann laid an arm around Lucas, pulling him close and Lucas allowed himself to be weak.

“Who told you about all of this?”

“His brother, Paul.”

“And have you talked with Eliott about this?”

Lucas was shaking his head slightly.

“And you believe his brother, who is most likely doing everything to separate you two for the sake of this family feud?”

“I don’t – How should he know about my mother? No one knows this expect you, the boys and Eliott. He is the only one who could have told him about it.”

“Maybe other people heard about it, nurses can also talk to the media.”

Lucas looked at him now, frowning. He never thought about this possibility… But then he shook his head again, straightening.

“It doesn’t matter though. He spied on me, who knows what else he told his brother or his family in general. I actually don’t want to know…”

“But Eliott could have told the media about your mum. He could have told everyone about it, the whole world would maybe know it by now. Why bother to even care about you after he got that information? Why did he take you to that leisure park? Why did he came after you, protecting you from these bullies? Doesn’t all of this speak for him and his honesty?”

Lucas was staring at Yann. He never thought Yann would be on Eliott’s side, he never thought that his best friend would say something like this at all. But this was not the thing that shocked him the most.

The thing that shocked Lucas the most was that Yann was right.

“Speak with him, Lucas. Talk with him and let him explain _his_ point of view. I don’t know about you, but Paul has every reason to destroy your relationship. Eliott, in contrast, has every reason _not_ to be in a relationship with you. And yet he wanted to.”

Lucas was staring at the ground, his head spinning with all the information he just got.

“I… I need to think about this”, Lucas said after a while before getting up. “But it’s most likely better this way. I cannot trust Eliott anymore. Not after this.”

* * *

Eliott had enough.

It had been a week since all of that happened, nothing coming from Lucas and whenever Eliott tried to approach the other boy in school, he was literally running away.

But Eliott would _not_ accept an ending like this. Not after he fought for Lucas and Lucas fought for him. He would end this feud to be with Lucas, right there and then, if he had to and he would do it by any means.

“Where are you going, Eliott?”, asked his mum as he was about to run out of the house and directly to Lucas.

And Eliott was tired.

He was tired of hiding his love for the youngest Lallemant, to hide the joy and happiness he had whenever Lucas was around.

“I’m going to the Lallemant’s to talk with Lucas. The boy I’m in love with.”

He would never forget the look he got from his mum and dad in this moment.

But Eliott only smiled at them and ran down the stairs, running the whole way to Lucas’ house.

“Eliott! Wait!”

He didn’t care that his parents apparently were following him. He only cared about his hedgehog and about telling him the truth.

There was a car in front of Lucas’ house but Eliott only registered it in the back of his mind. He took two steps at once and didn’t take away his finger from the bell till he heard some sounds of moving behind the door.

“God, what is this all—”

Lucas’ father was opening the door, Lucas and his mum standing behind him in the hallway. Eliott was breathing heavily from running the whole way and his eyes were on Lucas for a second, Lucas’ shock clearly visible on his face. Eliott took a deep breath, looking at Lucas’ father again and straightened his back.

“Salut. My name is Eliott Demaury and I want to talk with your son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GO AND GET YOUR BOY ELI


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

Lucas couldn’t believe what was just about to happen in front of his eyes. Eliott was here, his parents trailing behind him.

_He’s here. He’s here. Despite everything that happened._

Lucas didn’t know if he should run away, if he should hide or if he should listen to his heart and throw himself into the arms of the boy he missed so much. But there were still voices in his head, whispering that Lucas couldn’t trust Eliott anymore.

_But why is he here?_

Lucas’ father was staring at Eliott, grabbing the door hard, ready to slam it into Eliott’s face.

“How dare you –”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have time for this.”

Before Jack Lallemant could answer anything to this, Eliott was pushing him aside, entering the house and walking directly to Lucas. Lucas just stood there, frozen, his mum by his side who looked equally shock about the things happening right there and then.

“Lucas”, said Eliott and his voice held so many emotions in this one word that something inside Lucas’ broke. Eliott looked tired, the light in his eyes which Lucas so loved was dim and dull.

“I am sorry”, said Eliott and took a deep breath. Lucas was starting to shake his head, backing away from Eliott and the feeling of wanting to touch him and run his fingers through his hair. But Eliott’s hand shot out, landing on Lucas’ arm and Lucas could do nothing else anymore than staring at the other boy in front of him, seeming to be frozen on his place by the touch of him.

“I am sorry for what my brother told you”, continue Eliott quickly now, afraid that Lucas would push him away any second.

“I am sorry for not telling you about what my parents wanted me to do in your school. I am sorry for not being honest. I am sorry for making you angry, for scaring you.”

“Eliott, this doesn’t change any—”

“Fuck, Lucas, I’m trying to tell you that I love you, okay? So just… listen to me.”

Everyone and everything was quiet in this moment, the words hanging between all of them in the air.

Lucas could only hear the pulse of his heart in his own ears.

Eliott’s and Lucas’ parents stood in the doorway, watching the scene going on in front of their eyes, too confused to intervene or say something at all.

_I’m trying to tell you that I love you._

The words were repeating itself over and over again in Lucas’ mind, so often, that he wasn’t quite sure anymore if he just imagined Eliott saying this or if these words really left the other boy’s mouth.

“What?”, breathed Lucas and looked at Eliott with wide eyes. And Eliott took one step towards Lucas, carefully, like approaching a confused and wild animal.

“I love you, Lucas”, Eliott said again, this time soft and quiet, just meaning these words for Lucas. And Lucas shivered, the words burying itself deep inside of him and warming him from the inside.

“I don’t know where my brother got that information about your mum and I actually don’t wanna know at all. All I want is for you to know that I’m telling the truth. That I’m sorry for not being honest at you from the beginning, but I swear, I never spied on you.”

Eliott was looking into Lucas’ ocean blue eyes and Lucas could do nothing but holding his gaze, listening to his words.

“You are… a light in my life, Lucas Lallemant. You taught me how it is to give love and to receive love. I don’t regret any decision I made till here except the one of not being completely honest to you, regarding my illness and the reason why I was being sent to your school.”

Eliott took a deep breath and was standing directly in front of Lucas now, cupping the smaller boy’s face with his big hands.

“And believe me: I meant what I said. I meant it when I talked about ending this feud. I meant it when I told you that we could make it – together. And I also mean it when I’m saying that I love you”, said Eliott quietly, so quietly that Lucas thought the two of them would be in their own little world.

“This feud will change nothing about my feelings for you. My parents or my brother will change nothing about my feelings for you. If I have to, I will fight for you and our relationship till the end of the world.”

Lucas’ felt something burning in his eyes and before he could realize what it was, tears started to slide down his cheeks and he closed his eyes for a moment.

“Lucas… Say something”, said Eliott after a little while, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence. Lucas could hear the fear in his voice; Eliott just laid out his bare feelings in front of Lucas and Lucas had to make a decision:

He could reject him and listen to his stubborn head.

Or he could believe him and listen to his heart.

As he opened his eyes again, he saw Eliott watching him with a mixture of fear and hope in his eyes. Lucas took a deep breath and a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

“I love you too”, whispered Lucas and before he even finished that sentence, he was being pressed into Eliott’s arms. Lucas wrapped his arms around the taller boy and buried his head in the crook of his neck, finally being surrounded by the scent of Eliott and by the pure feeling of joy and warmth.

_This was right._

_This was good._

_This is how it is supposed to be._

But this moment only lasted some seconds.

Lucas suddenly felt something on his back and he was being pulled away by his jacket from Eliott, colliding with a body behind him.

“Are you fucking serious, Lucas?”, asked his father with a loud voice while turning around Lucas, making him wince.

Lucas felt the anger boiling inside of him like every time he had an encounter with his dad. But he wouldn’t back down. Eliott would fight for him and their relationship till the end of the world.

And so would Lucas.

“I am, father”, Lucas said with a firm voice, looking into his father’s eyes.

“Are you really going to go this way? Are you really believing this liar? The Demaurys only want to see us on the ground, this is no little game!” His father was now screaming again, like every time his position was in danger.

“It is a little game”, spat Lucas, poking into his father’s chest. “ _Your_ game. And Eliott and I are tired of playing your game”, hissed Lucas and tore himself away from his father.

“Have you lost your god damn mind, Eliott?”

This was the first time, Eliott’s father was speaking. And apparently, he was on the side of Lucas’ father.

“How much do they pay you to act like you _really_ love that loser?”

“Hey, don’t call my son a loser”, interrupted Jack Lallemant and was in two big strides in front of Eliott’s father, pinning him to the wall behind him. Lucas wanted to go after him, holding his father away from the other one, but his mum grabbed his arm, holding him in place. Eliott was already next to Lucas, standing a bit in front of him to protect him.

“Your wife already did enough to our family”, spat Eliott’s father and Jack Lallemant pressed the other one even harder to the wall.

“Don’t you ever dare to talk about my wife again or I—”

“Hey!”

Everyone turned around suddenly, including Lucas’, as his mum spoke up, silencing the conversation between the two men.

“Do you even realize what you’re doing there?”, she asked, standing in the middle of the room now and addressing the two fighting men.

“You are accusing each other of things which are long in the past, threating and speaking big words. Does anyone of you has even a clue why this feud started at all? Because I don’t. And I’m honestly tired of this shit.”

Lucas stared at his mum with widened eyes, feeling super proud of her in this very moment. She always said that this feud was stupid, that it should end. But it was another thing to speak these things in front of the Demaurys and her abusive husband.

And Lucas couldn’t be more proud to be her son.

“The sense of our lives is to destroy the other family. And honestly, who wants to live a life like that? This feud already brought so much pain and agony, so much unnecessary hurt feelings. I personally don’t want to go on like this.”

Silence.

“She is right.”

Every head turned around as Eliott’s mum suddenly spoke. Eliott’s expression became soft as she walked over to him, laying a hand on her son’s shoulder.

“I never saw Eliott smiling so bright like the last days. I already suspected that he was in love but I never imagined who it would be.”

Lucas was looking at her, a tiny smile on her face as she looked over to Lucas.

“Our boys are in love. And shouldn’t love beat every hate in this world? Shouldn’t love be the winning force?”, she said quietly and looked at everyone in this room.

“Doesn’t the love from our sons show that our families can live together _in peace_ after all? Doesn’t this show that there is some sort of hope for peace and a calm life?”

Lucas’ mum was nodding, smiling at Eliott’s mother.

“Lucas and Eliott shouldn’t hide themselves only because some ancestors of us decided to be angry at each other”, said Lucas’ mum now, looking at Eliott and Lucas in particular.

“No one should feel the need to hide their feelings.”

She was now at the edge of crying and Lucas took her hand, intertwining their fingers, showing that he would be there for her, no matter what would happen now.

“This”, Lucas’ mum continued with a broken voice, shoving Eliott and Lucas towards each other, “This is what I call destiny. Fate. Our boys were meant to be. They were meant to end this feud with their love. Because love always wins in the end.”

Lucas was looking at Eliott and he was glad that the other boy also had tears in his eyes, that Lucas was not the only one who couldn’t believe what was actually happening here.

And he felt something so pure and bright inside of him like he never felt it before.

Hope.

“If we would work together, all of us, in our private and work life, we could be so much more than just enemies”, continued Eliott’s mum now, looking at her husband.

“Everything we wanted was for our son to be happy. For him to find love and joy in life.”

Eliott’s father was now looking down, apparently feeling guilty. Lucas’ father even let go of the other man, the anger and the urge to fight both fading away in them. They knew that their wives where right, that they couldn’t say something against these facts.

Eliott’s mum turned to her son, laying a hand on his cheek and smiling at him through tears.

“And you apparently found your love. And I couldn’t be more proud of you, Eliott.”

“Thank you, mum”, Eliott whispered and hugged his mum. But his mum wasn’t looking at Eliott just now. Her gaze was landing on Lucas, smiling slightly.

“No, thank you”, she whispered and Lucas smiled, knowing that these words meant so much more than _thank you._

Knowing, that words couldn’t describe how all of them felt right now.

Knowing, that words couldn’t describe the beginning of a new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying, you are


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Demaurys and the Lallemants had been enemies for over one hundred years. And when Lucas first meets Eliott, he hates him with his whole heart even without knowing him, blaming him and his family for his life which is slowly falling apart. But when they are forced to live alongside in the same surrounding, something is changing between them. And this scares Lucas more than anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to @sharetheskamlove for this idea and for always being my beta reader!
> 
> thank you to each and everyone on Tumblr who always commented on my ff, you know who you are.
> 
> and now: here's the last chapter from "Oh, Cruel Fate"

“Oh, look! Those are cute.”

Lucas laughed as he stumbled after Eliott who didn’t let go of his hand for one second. That had been in the zoo for only some minutes and Eliott’s eyes were already shining bright with every little animal he saw.

But Lucas would do anything to make his boyfriend smile.

_His boyfriend._

It still felt weird that they were official dating now, that Lucas could call Eliott his boyfriend and proudly introduce him to everyone who wanted to know about him and also to everyone who didn’t care at all. The media had thrown itself on this case for the first days after Eliott and Lucas had been seen together on the school for the first time, holding hands, laughing, exchanging deep glances.

But Lucas didn’t care.

He didn’t care about what the media said about their relationship, he didn’t care if the people liked it or not. All he cared for was Eliott and that they could finally be openly together now. No more hiding, no more secrets, no more fear, just the two of them being in love.

The boysquad had welcomed Eliott with open arms, Arthur and Eliott basically being best friends now. Basile said that he knew all along that about something going on between them and Lucas had only laughed and rolled his eyes because he himself didn’t know back then that they would end up together.

His dad was still having a hard time to accept that Eliott belonged to Lucas’ life now. That the feud was ended as Lucas’ and Eliott’s story only started. But Lucas didn’t give a damn about his father who hasn’t been home for one full day since then.

His mum, on the contrary, loved Eliott with all her heart.

Exactly as much as Eliott’s mum loved Lucas. He was always welcome in the house of the Demaurys, Eliott’s father handling all of this way better than Lucas’ father and especially his brothers who sent Lucas’ practically to hell now. But Lucas had only laughed at that, grabbed Eliott’s hand and walked past them, leaving them behind with all their hatred in their hearts.

But life has been good till now.

And life would continue to be good.

He loved Eliott and Eliott loved Lucas, he showed it to him every day with small gestures that made Lucas’ heart melt.

“Lulu, look, how fluffy they are.”

“These are apes, Eliott. They are not fluffy.”

“But look at their fur!”

Lucas laughed and shook his head at Eliott’s reaction. His boyfriend was sometimes a giant puppy and he loved this side of him. As he first met Eliott, he was all mysterious, closing every one out, not showing much of his emotions and how he felt. But now… now he was laughing loudly, smiling brightly, he was beaming brighter than the sun somedays and it made Lucas more than happy.

Lucas started to walk to the next cage, always a smile on his face. He remembered the time where he tried to drink himself happy, he remembered the time where it was hard for him to smile at all and there still would be times like this. But Eliott would be there. And Lucas would be there for Eliott, no matter if it was a good day for them or a bad day.

Lucas was standing in front of a cage now, squinting his eyes at the animal which should be inside of it. But then, he saw it.

A racoon.

And Lucas’ smile grew wider.

“Eliott?”, he called out and never took his eyes from the cute animal which was snuggling itself inside a pouch now.

“Yes, mon amour?”

Lucas jumped a little as Eliott approached him from behind so quietly. Eliott laid his arms around Lucas, the other one smiling at this natural habit of them. Lucas leant back so that his head was resting against Eliott’s chest. This was one of the moments where he couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

“Do you see that?”, Lucas asked, pointing to the cake and the racoon in it.

“Yes, it’s a racoon. They are cool.”

“Cool?” Lucas frowned and looked over his shoulder so he could see Eliott’s face.

Eliott grinned and nodded.

“Yes, cool. They’re wearing masks.”

Lucas was raising his eyebrows, chuckling quietly.

“True. They’re wearing masks. But you know what?”

“What?”

“It looks like you.”

Eliott snorted and turned Lucas around to him so that he could look down on him with that smirk of his.

“It looks like me?”

“Ouais”, said Lucas while nodding knowingly. “The little ears are standing out like your hair and they have this cute, little face, like you do, too.”

Eliott was grinning, shaking his head slightly and wrapping a strand of Lucas’ hair around his finger.

“Is this your revenge for me saying that you look like a hedgehog?”

Lucas gasped in an acted surprise, laying a hand dramatically on his heart.

“How could you ever think of something like that?”

Eliott only laughed and kissed Lucas’ forehead, getting closer to the cage and the racoon. The animal was now looking at them curiously.

“You see? He recognizes his brother.”

“Oh, shut up, Lulu”, said Eliott while laughing and not taking his eyes away from the racoon.

“But you are right, they really have a cute face. I think I will take it as my spirit animal now.”

“HA! I knew it”, said Lucas while wriggling his eyebrows.

“If it makes you happy”, said Eliott grinning and turned around now, facing his boyfriend again.

Lucas was nodding, wrapping his arms around Eliott’s middle part and laying his head in his neck to look up at him.

“You make me happy”, said Lucas quietly after some moments passed where they only gazed into each other’s eyes. Eliott’s smile went really soft, Lucas’ heart beating faster at this special smile which was reserved for him and only him.

“So do you”, answered Eliott and laid his lips on Lucas’, kissing him softly and lovingly. And Lucas let out a little sigh, melting at this wonderful kiss and this wonderful boy which he could call his boyfriend now. They had to face so many difficulties to come that far but every moment was worth because it ended like this.

Lucas always thought that his life was damned to be terrible. That everything he loved or held dear was damned to shatter. But Eliott was the proof that this was not the case. That there will be sunshine after long, long dark days. That there is hope in life.

Whenever Lucas was thinking that he didn’t deserve any of this, Eliott would prove him wrong. It was not easy, Eliott’s illness always present between the two of them. But when there were happy moments, like this exact moment, then it was even more beautiful. No one could understand the connection Eliott and Lucas had, the deep trust and the feeling of being home when they were around each other.

Their relationship was special because the circumstances of their pairing were special.

Because they were special.

“Should we go to the next cage?”, asked Eliott after their kiss, staying close to Lucas’ face. And Lucas nodded, taking Eliott’s hand and kissing the back of it quickly.

“Let’s go.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay guys this is it. this is the last chapter of my fanfic and there is one thing left for me to say: Thank you. Thank you for your ENDLESS support, for your comments, for your kudos, for crying and smiling with me. all of this feels like leaving behind a beautiful period in my life and ugh i'm really emo rn hahaaha 
> 
> so yeah, thank you to each and everyone who read this little fanfic and i hope i'll see some of you again when I'm starting with my next fanfic!
> 
> xx annie


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